By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil imports last

month rose to a nearly two-year high as refiners scooped up

heavy crudes from Canada and Latin America to process into fuels

for summer driving season.

Imports of crude oil rose to 3.1 million barrels per day

(bpd) in May, the highest since July 2022, data from ship

tracking service Kpler showed. Imports so far this month have

remained strong, at around 2.9 million bpd to date.

Fuel demand has remained tepid with product supplied for

gasoline at 9.1 million bpd in the week to June 14, slightly

below the 10-year seasonal average, data from the U.S. Energy

Information Administration showed.

U.S. product supplied of distillate fuel oil also was around

3.7 million bpd, about 3% below the seasonal average, according

to EIA data.

Crude oil imports from Canada climbed in May to 319,000 bpd,

its most in 2-1/2 years, as the newly expanded Trans Mountain

pipeline boosted flows to the U.S. West Coast. The imports were

39% higher than the same month a year ago.

Supplies from Mexico, Guyana and Colombia also climbed.

Guyana crude hit a record 99,000 bpd and Colombia rose to a near

two-year high. Imports from Mexican state oil company Pemex

rebounded, reversing brief export cuts.

"U.S. refiners bought excess crude oil to mitigate the loss

of Mexican crude," said Rohit Rathod, market analyst at energy

researcher Vortexa.

Pemex in April had pared exports, sending U.S. refiners to

get order heavier crude from Colombia and Canada, but

weaker-than-expected demand by Pemex's domestic refineries

canceled planned May cuts. Imports from Mexico this month have

run 624,000 bpd, the highest this year.

Top May refining importers were Chevron ( CVX ), Marathon

Petroleum ( MPC ), Valero Energy ( VLO ) and Phillips 66

, according to Kpler data.