Iran may be ramping up the pressure on the global markets, but US refiners seem to be rising to the occasion. According to data compiled from the Energy Information Administration, Dow Jones News points out that US refiners boosted crude-oil processing by 2.2% last week to an impressive 14.7 million barrels per day barrels day, which was the highest level for the week since 2007
The Producer Price Index for finished goods advanced 0.1 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Prices for finished goods declined 0.1 percent in December and moved up 0.2 percent in November. At the earlier stages of processing, the index for intermediate goods fell 0.4 percent in January, and crude goods prices increased 1.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the finished goods index advanced 4.1 percent for the 12 months ended January 2012, the smallest year-over-year rise since a 3.6-percent increase in January 2011. (See table A.)