The American Consumer – US Gasoline Demand Drops 0.03% in July But Total Petroleum Demand Up 3.8%
Except for 2008, it was the lowest July gasoline demand number since 2003. Don’t you think it has something to do with the sputtering economic recovery? But the interesting contrast comes from the automobile manufacturers with many of them reporting profitable quarters resulting from brisk sales. Increasing fuel efficiency of the newer models should have some impact in this reduction in demand and it should only get healthier from here on as the new vehicles become more stingy with the fuel consumption. I feel that this demand vs. supply equation will start shifting slowly over the next decade as more and more hybrids & fully-electric vehicles creep into the market space.
At 9.3 million barrels a day, US gasoline deliveries (a measure of demand) fell slightly (0.03%)in July 2010 compared with July 2009, continuing weak deliveries for the first half of the year, according to figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API). Except for 2008, it was the lowest July gasoline demand number since 2003.
Total petroleum demand, on the other hand, rose 3.8% in July over a year ago. This includes a strong 11.6% increase for deliveries of low sulfur distillates, which are primarily diesel fuels used in trucking, and a 6.9% increase in kerosine jet fuel deliveries.
