After climbing for two consecutive weeks, U.S. petroleum demand declined during the last week of May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday. Still, refinery utilization reached a high for the year to date, and analysts anticipate demand to prove strong this summer.

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EIA said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) overall petroleum demand for the period ended May 28 fell 4% week/week, as consumption of motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil tapered off from recent highs. Total demand had increased 3.5% the prior week and 10% a week earlier.

Despite the recent setback, refineries are gearing up for strong summer demand. Utilization hit 88.7% of capacity in the most recent EIA reporting period, the highest since February 2020, prior to the coronavirus...