High prices impacting use of oil, gasoline, government says

Posted by jack money
on September 16, 2008M at 8:13 am

High retail fuel prices continue to impact sales, the nation’s Energy Information Administration says.

Many Americans decided against vacationing this summer, or decided to stay close to home, and, when working, are carpooling or using public transportation.

U.S. gasoline demand, the agency says, declined by 2.3-percent in May and 4.4-percent in June, compared to the same months in 2007. The agency says the drop in May was the largest since 1980, and the fifth-largest since at least 1945. For June, the decline was also the largest since 1980 and, even more remarkably, the third-largest since 1945.

The agency also notes that Americans have been consuming less oil. Total oil consumption data from the first half of 2008 compared with the first half of 2007 show that Americans consumed, on average, 925,000 barrels per day less — a drop of 4.5 percent.During the same time, the United Kingdom, France, and

Italy also posted continued declines in oil consumption, while consumption in the rest of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries was relatively flat.

According to EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the OECD countries consumed about 1 million barrels per day less in the first half of 2008 than they did in the first half of 2007.

By Jack Money, Business Writer



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