Total products deliveries in the US and the five largest European consuming countries were just 0.5pc, or 150,000 b/d, higher in the first quarter than a year earlier. Total demand was just over 20mn b/d in the US last month, the highest in eight years and up by 1mn b/d compared with a year earlier, preliminary data from EIA weekly reports indicate. Strong demand for gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil and other products - which include industrial fuels, such as petroleum coke and petrochemicals feedstocks - is propelling US demand growth. And the April data indicate a small year-on-year rise in distillate sales, the first since September. Distillate demand in January-February was 11pc lower than a year earlier, depressed by muted heating oil consumption because of mild winter weather, and by weak industrial sector demand for diesel.
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