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Energy · October 6, 2026 · 2 min read

EIA: Brent peaked at $109 in Q3 and US refineries ran at 95 percent as crack spreads widened

By Econ Data Tools Editorial Team

Published October 6, 2026 • Updated October 6, 2026

Reviewed by Independent verification against the EIA Today in Energy article text, October 5, 2026

The EIA says crude prices and refinery margins generally rose in the third quarter of 2026. Brent futures peaked at $109 a barrel on September 15, US refinery utilization averaged 95 percent, and distillate inventories were 13 percent below the five-year average.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said petroleum prices and refinery margins generally rose through the third quarter of 2026, amid what it calls persistent conflict in the Middle East. The figures below come from EIA's Today in Energy article published October 5, 2026, which credits Bloomberg L.P. as its data source. Crude oil: - Front-month Brent futures began the quarter at $72 a barrel on July 1, the lowest since February 26. - After military strikes resumed on July 7, futures passed $100 a barrel on July 23, then traded between $79 and $98 until September 8. - Futures passed $100 again on September 9. Brent futures peaked at $109 a barrel on September 15, and spot prices reached as high as $132 around that time. - EIA says crude averaged around $104 a barrel in the last two weeks of the quarter. - EIA also points to China's crude imports, which stayed well below pre-war levels but were up from May and June, and to a sharp slowdown in Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases in September. Refining: - U.S. refinery utilization averaged 95 percent in the third quarter, with the most crude processed for a third quarter since 2019, when capacity was 4 percent higher. - The quarterly average gasoline crack spread more than doubled from a year earlier, though it declined in the second half of the quarter. EIA says the distillate and jet fuel crack spreads almost tripled their year-ago levels. A crack spread measures a refinery margin: the New York Harbor spot price of the fuel minus the Dated Brent spot price. Inventories, as of the week ending September 25: distillate fuel was 13 percent below its 2021 to 2025 average, gasoline 7 percent below, and jet fuel 3 percent above. What this does not tell you: it covers futures and spot prices and refinery data through the end of the quarter. It does not forecast prices, and we did not check EIA's figures against other data sources. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Crude oil prices and refinery margins generally increased throughout the third quarter," Today in Energy, October 5, 2026.

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