Low distillate inventories in the United States have tightened the diesel market during the harvest season and ahead of the winter heating season. Diesel and heating oil supply could become even tighter and pricier if U.S. manufacturing activity returns to growth soon. Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the 11th consecutive month in September, according to data from the Institute for Supply Management ISM.
Refinery outages, changed global oil trade flows, a cautiously optimistic freight market in the United States, and inventories at some of the lowest levels in years have tightened the diesel market and are likely to tighten it further in the coming months, especially if a cold winter hits the Northeast, where diesel and other distillate supplies are very tight.