Key facts
- Gasoline yields averaged below 45% in the first eight months of 2026, under the previous five-year low every month, per EIA data.
- Distillate fuel oil yields, which include diesel and heating oil, exceeded their five-year average in every month through August.
- Jet fuel's share of US refinery output passed 12% for the first time on record in March and stayed at or above it through August.
- Global refinery crude runs fell 4.8 million barrels per day in the second quarter and recovered 1.8 million bpd in the third, EIA data showed.
- US refineries added 500,000 barrels per day of crude processing in the second quarter and another 500,000 bpd in the third.
- Diesel prices reached their highest nominal levels on record in September, the report said.
US refineries produced a smaller share of gasoline from each barrel of crude in the first eight months of 2026, according to data the US Energy Information Administration published on November 5. Gasoline yields averaged below 45% in every month from January through August, under the previous five-year low each month, the EIA data showed. The agency's figures put the industry's usual range at 45 to 50 barrels of gasoline for every 100 barrels of crude processed.
Distillate fuel oil yields, a category that includes diesel and heating oil, exceeded their five-year average in every month through August. Jet fuel moved further: its share of US refinery output passed 12% for the first time on record in March and stayed at or above that level through August, the latest month for which the EIA data was available.
The shift tracks a tighter global refining market. The report said the Iran war has disrupted Middle Eastern refining operations and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have restricted supplies of diesel and other petroleum products. Global refinery crude runs fell by 4.8 million barrels per day in the second quarter, per EIA data released earlier in the week, then recovered by 1.8 million bpd in the third quarter while remaining about 5% below year-earlier levels.
US refineries raised crude processing by 500,000 bpd in the second quarter and another 500,000 bpd in the third, the report said, helping offset lost production elsewhere. Diesel prices reached their highest nominal levels on record in September. The report said the shortage has changed which fuels deliver the largest returns, leading refiners to maximize middle distillates at the expense of gasoline yields.