This week's DOE report highlighted the continued low poor utilization rates at U.S. refineries. For the week ending last Friday, refinery utilization was 81.08%, a rise from the previous week.

According to DOE data, it would seem that much of this autumn's maintenance activity started between October 2 and October 9. Many times, typical maintenance lasts anywhere from two to six weeks. That means by Thanksgiving, many refineries should have wrapped up maintenance and we may see an increase in utilization.

Until that point, it would seem that the U.S. will continue to consume more gasoline than is produced each week, sending prices higher. Last weeks DOE report showed the U.S. consumed 218 million gallons of gasoline more than it produced. This week, the reported stated that we consumed 96.6 million gallons more than we produced. These number stick out to traders who are concerned about rising U.S. demand and lower production, leaving less supply. Coupled with occasional earnings reports that are better than average, many are expecting the U.S. economy to rebound, fueling demand for gasoline.

While stockpiles are holding on to year-on-year increases, the gains are slowly slipping away. Last week, gasoline stockpiles were 9.4% higher than a year ago. This week they are 7.5% higher than a year ago. This adds to sentiment that perceived demand is rising.

Let's hope this pattern of supply losses stops so that we can return to a period of stability!