HOUSTON — U.S. gasoline demand in August fell to a 10-year low for the month as consumers closed their wallets during the traditional summer driving season amid a lagging economy.
But industrial demand rose in the month, according to the latest fuel demand data from the American Petroleum Institute.
“U.S. consumer activity and industrial activity traced divergent paths,” the API said in releasing the latest statistics.
Gasoline deliveries fell to 9.1 million barrels a day, down by 1.3 percent from a year ago, and the lowest August demand since 2001. Meanwhile, deliveries of industrial fuels such as diesel, jet fuel and other distillates reached 4.2 million barrels a day, or up 10.8 percent from August 2010, according to the API data. In all, U.S. fuel demand grew by 0.3 percent year over year.
With unemployment high and consumers still paying off the debt that accrued during the real estate bubble of the previous decade, discretionary consumer spending, including driving, will be low for at least the short-term future, said Sarah Emerson, principal at energy analysis firm ESAI Inc.
Dow Jones Newswires; Associated Press file photo
