Us gasoline stocks fell the most since 1990 last week after most refineries along the Gulf of Mexico were unable to produce because of extremely cold weather, according to government data.

Gasoline inventories fell 13.6 million barrels to 243 million barrels last week, and many refineries are still struggling to resume production. The cold wave comes as the oil refining industry prepares for the prospect of a pick-up in demand in the spring and summer.

The impact surpassed that of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, when many refineries along the coast of Texas and Louisiana were hit by storms and gasoline stocks fell by 8.4 million barrels.

With COVID-19 vaccinated and some states lifting restrictions on commercial activities, optimistic expectations of a pick-up in fuel demand into the summer have surfaced. For most of last year, gasoline consumption hovered near the lowest level in a decade as the epidemic hit.