Refineries have shifted production away from gasoline to middle distillates

Particularly high refinery margins for distillate fuel oil and jet fuel have contributed to shifts in the refinery yields of major products in 2026. Data from our latest Petroleum Supply Monthly—which includes data through August 2026—indicate refinery yields of gasoline have decreased significantly this year to support increased production of distillate fuel oil and jet fuel, sometimes referred to as middle distillates due to their relative cut points in the oil refining process.

Petroleum refinery yields represent the share of a specific fuel that is produced from each barrel of crude oil a given refinery (or group of refineries) processes. The U.S. refining fleet tends to have a strong refinery yield of gasoline—typically between 45%–50%. In general terms, for every 100 barrels of crude oil U.S. refiners process, they produce about 45–50 barrels of gasoline. Typically, the most important refinery yields in the United States are the refinery yields of motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil (often sold as diesel fuel), and kerosene-type jet fuel. The combined yield of motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil, and jet fuel typically accounts for between 85%–90% of the petroleum products produced by the U.S. refining fleet.

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