U.S. oil production last week held at a high point for the year as overall petroleum demand increased, led by consumption of travel fuels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday.  

Producers pumped 12.1 million b/d for the week ended July 1, according to the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report. That continued the pace of the prior week, when output first climbed above the 12.0 million b/d threshold in 2022.

Demand, meanwhile, rose more than 2% week/week, with solid increases in consumption of motor gasoline, jet fuel and distillates, including diesel fuel.

Analysts anticipate demand readings will again be strong with the next EIA report, which would capture travel over the July 4 holiday weekend.

That noted, petroleum consumption has been...