U.S. fuel exports reached an all-time high last week as American producers raced to make up for the global shortages amid the war in Iran, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday.
The record exports come even as consumers are paying more at the pump for gasoline and diesel, according to the American Automobile Association. The average price for a gallon of regular reached $4.54 a gallon Wednesday, 40 cents higher than it was a month ago.
The Trump administration has encouraged the world to buy more U.S. oil as Iran continues to choke off a chunk of the world’s oil that normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. It has also rebuffed calls to restrict exports of crude and refined products like gasoline and jet fuel as prices spike at home.
The U.S. during the week ending May 1 exported 8.2 million barrels of petroleum products, a category that includes gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other chemicals derived from oil. That was up more than 1.5 million barrels from the same week a year earlier, EIA said.
