The U.S. may be heading into winter with the lowest stockpiles of heating oil to meet surging demand in more than two decades. Inventories of distillates — used as diesel for both transportation and heating oil — are enough to meet 31.2 days of demand, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the tightest it has been for this time of the year since 2000. The dwindling supplies raise the specter of energy shortages and price spikes in the U.S. this winter — at a time when the rest of the world has already been upended by fuel shortages and blackouts. They also underscore how the economic rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, a surge in demand for virtually all goods and an ensuing trucking boom are now colliding with volatile energy markets, threatening to raise the cost of fuel for homeowners, farmers and truckers. There are currently just over […]