據世界能源3月1日消息：美國能源情報署(EIA)周一表示，去年12月，美國石油需求升至冠狀病毒大流行開始之前的最高水平，石油日產量接近2100萬桶。

12月整體燃料需求同比增長10%，達到2,080萬桶/天，為2019年8月以來的最高水平。產品供應是消費者需求的一個指標，因為它主要反映的是美國原油加工后用于消費和出口的燃料。

美國石油需求快速增長，但產量仍緩慢回升至紀錄高位，這迫使能源公司在過去一年中從庫存中撤出大量原油，并推動石油期貨價格升至2014年以來的最高水平。

EIA在其《石油供應月度報告》中稱，12月原油日產量下滑約20.6萬桶，至1,157萬桶。這比2020年2月大流行前的1283萬桶/天產量低了約9%。

EIA上周發布的每周《石油狀況報告》顯示，作為紐約商品交易所(NYMEX)石油期貨合約的交割點，俄克拉荷馬州庫欣中心的原油庫存已降至2018年9月以來的最低水平。

與此同時，美國12月原油出口量升至345萬桶/天。

EIA在其914個月的產量報告中稱，12月美國南部48個州的天然氣產量增加了1億立方英尺/天，達到創紀錄的1083億立方英尺/天。

這是連續第二個月天然氣產量創歷史新高。此前的歷史最高紀錄是11月的1082億立方英尺。

在主要的天然氣生產州，得克薩斯州和賓夕法尼亞州的月度天然氣產量分別增長0.6%和1.1%，達到創紀錄的303億立方英尺和220億立方英尺。

馮娟 摘譯自 世界能源

原文如下：

U.S. December Oil Demand Hits Highest Since Before Pandemic -EIA

U.S. oil demand rose in December to its highest level since before the coronavirus pandemic began, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday, with product supplied nearing 21 million barrels per day (bpd).

Overall fuel demand was up 10% year-on-year in December at 20.8 million bpd, its highest since August 2019. Product supplied is a proxy for consumer demand since it mostly reflects fuels processed from U.S. crude oil for consumption and export.

The rapid increase in U.S. oil demand while output remains slow to return to record highs, has forced energy firms to pull massive amount of crude from storage over the past year and helped boost oil futures to their highest since 2014.

Crude oil output slipped by about 206,000 bpd to 11.57 million bpd in December, the EIA said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly report. That is about 9% below the 12.83 million bpd produced before the pandemic in February 2020.

Crude stockpiles at the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma, the delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange's (NYMEX) oil futures contract, have dropped to their lowest since September 2018, according to EIA's weekly Petroleum Status Report last week. read more

U.S. crude exports, meanwhile, rose to 3.45 million bpd in December.

Monthly gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states rose 0.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) to a record 108.3 bcfd in December, the EIA said in its monthly 914 production report.

That was the second month in a row that Lower 48 gross gas output hit a record high. The previous all-time high was 108.2 bcfd in November.

In top gas producing states, monthly output rose 0.6% in Texas to a record 30.3 bcfd and 1.1% in Pennsylvania to a record 22.0 bcfd.