U.S. Q1 fuel demand down 1.4 percent

By George Skentzos | April 17th, 2008

The price of oil continues to surge despite recent reports revealing that fuel demand has actually dropped for the third consecutive quarter in the world’s largest oil consuming nation.

In the first quarter of 2008, overall demand for petroleum products in the US dropped by 1.4 percent whilst oil output continues to rise.

“The first quarter’s decline comes on the heels of three years of flat to declining deliveries,” said Ron Planting, manager, information and analysis, for the American Petroleum Institute.

This lack of demand has not come due to dwindling supplies, with US refineries continueing to churn out record amounts of gasoline with output rising to 8.85 million barrels a day, a 1.5 percent increase compared to first quarter 2007.

Furthermore, the report also shows gasoline stocks in the US have remained 8.5 percent above year-ago levels and more than 6 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.

Source: API

http://evo Frugal One

*****PRIMO!*****

WTF is happening to the price of DIEsel?Near $1.70 in Melb.

100% HAPPT that i am with LPG now!!

Cheers

F-0
Mick

Sweet, more petrol for us aussies to use.
f1worldchamp

Gasp! The Yanks aren’t seeing the light and embracing fuel efficiency, are they?
Next thing we know there will be a hybrid F150!
Casey

I don’t think they’re embracing anything, I think they’re broke trying to pay out their home loans
Dlr1

Their reduction in fuel consumtion is a response to both their recession and a realisation that they dont like paying US $3 to $4 per gallon. (AUD 85c to $1.14 per litre).

And as a result of these outrageously high fuel prices Chevy now has on offer a 2009 model Hybrid Silverado with highway mileage of around…. wait for it… 21mpg!
Tony M

If you don’t use petrol it loses its volatility. Means its octane level drops. So what do we have in the States? petrol that is c grade that cars need more of to run. What a rip off. I hope we don’t go down the same path. It’s as if the Yanks are just printing more money while their going down the tubes.
Reckless1

China Q1 fuel demand – up 30% (just guessing)

China Q2 fuel demand – up 35%

China Q3 fuel demand – up 40%

China Q4 fuel demand – up 45%

Australian prices of goods & services – increased across the board due to CO2 taxes

Australia’s contribution to world CO2s = 1.2% (might be more or less but who do you believe when everyone lies? )

China’s contribution to world CO2s = ??? but increasing by more than AUs every month.

Result – as usual, Aussie citizens pay through the nose to their own Governments no matter what the excuse.

Rant over
noob

can any1 pls enlighten me as to why diesel are more expensive here in aus?because i went to malaysia and the diesel there are cheaper than petrol…
to me i think diesel should be cheaper because they are not as refined as petrol…
Casey

Noob – it’s purely a supply and demand equation. We rely heavily on diesel here for freight, farming, etc… so the fuel companys can get away with robbing us blind.

What really s h i t s me is the tax on tax situation on fuel. This needs to be abolished.
itsnoteasybeinggreen

Bought 3000 lt of diesel on Monday at $1.675, neighbour bought on Thursday at $1.72. Bowzer price on Sunday was $1.539. You feel like your being riped off.
Carl

Frugal One…….I was considering changing my e-gas Falcon for a diesel Mondeo wagon BUT with diesel heading towards 2 bucks a litre and petrol almost $1.60, i think I’ll hold back for a while and see what happens coz the big, trusty Falcon is cheaper to run than my wife’s Yaris at these prices!!!!!
Andrew

Yet oil hit record levels of $115 overnight. Oh well what can you do? I will just reduce my driving to what is absolutely necessary. Gone are the days of driving to the beach for some relaxing. I’ll sit at home and eat my overpriced groceries instead.
http://realcarsbigpond.net realcars

Harlton Cheston would be spinning in his grave.

Wonder if anyone has pried that gun from his cold dead hands yet?
http://realcarsbigpond.net realcars

Gas is goooood
http://realcarsbigpond.net realcars

Stop telling them about gas Damn
http://realcarsbigpond.net realcars

do not underestimate the power of methane!!!
Andrew M

Carl,
how long have you had the E-gas falcon?

dont forget LPG has gone up in price too. but either way you look at it LPG is still going to be half the price.

i use to fill with LPG for 20 bucks, now it costs 40 bucks.
at the same points through time it use to cost 40 to fill with petrol, and now it costs 80 bucks
(thats a round figure example of course)

the real investigation should be why has LPG gone up in price? no real reason for that stuf to increase in price.

im still banging my head as to why ford still havennt run even heavierwith the LPG E-gas falcon.
i mean how wrong could they go if they threw the Vapour system in the falcon and promoted it as identical if not better power and consumption than petrol?????
noob

casey – yea i know that,but shouldnt the government do something about it?because it’s just unreasonable
it’s not that other countries dont have freight and farming system?
Carl

Andrew M……..i had a Mercedes 450 SEL on gas about 6 years ago and have had the E-gas Falcon for less than a year so my experience with LPG is limited HOWEVER i have become increasingly a fan of this fuel and like you i can not understand how Ford and others don’t promote it more!!!…..also considering it’s made from 100% Australian natural gas it’s the only fuel that doesn’t add to our current account deficit it should not have risen as much as it has……even so it’s still great value when compared to petrol and diesel!!!

My only reason for considering diesel is to drive a classier vehicle because the basic Falcon while reasonably comfortable is not exactly my cup of tea!!! and it yet again got left behind with no upgrades in power or gear box or traction control for the LPG model this year.
Andrew M

Carl,
i echo your thoughts mate.

the no upgrade on the LPG system is prob what will push me back to petrol.
mine is currently a manual. if they went back to offering it in a manual agian or even the ZF6 i might consider it a little more.
if i passed up the upgraded 6cyl petrol which now comes with the 6sp man as standard i would feel like i was missing out
if i go back though, the prices are gonna hurt me
Carl

Andrew….Exactly if they want more LPG sales they have to offer LPG on the higher specs from factory without forcing us to do a post market conversions!!!!!!
Spitfire

Well said Reckless1.
Minnow

I wonder if the price of fuel will steady after the beijing olympics or even drop back down to around $1.20. All this chinese development going on for just preparation for the olympics is causing massive demand for all resources, things may slow after the olympics this year… who knows time will tell.

ha! the heading US Fuel demand decreasing.. looks like theyre not driving their Hummer’s to their letterboxes anymore and are now walking while eating KFC. Or as casey said! the sub-prime crisis, ahh their silly ways of selling home loans to literally poor, unsuspecting people.
Minnow

Do farmers get discounted diesel??? I know a bloke who has a farm and buys his diesel in bulk and can get it at around $1.10 a L, or is it just agriculture related industries?
Dlr1

For those wondering why has LPG gone up in price need look no further than the Saudi bechmark that we adopt for our lpg prices. The wholesale price has risen from below 20c/litre (AUD) to above 45c/litre last month.

In 2007 autralia exported 10 billion cubic meters of gas. Around 1/4 of our production. So as the world price goes up so does the local price.

And because one method of production involves turning crude oil into LPG, prices for LPG will have a strong relationship to oil prices. Even if oil & LPG world prices donot move in the next 4 years expect to pay another 12.5c/litre during that period. The previous federal government legislated an excise to be introduced from mid 2008 starting at 2.5c and increasing to 12.5c in 2012.
Andrew M

Dlr1,
mate you havent explained the reason for LPG price increases one bit.

yes you are right in that one method of producing LPG does involve the use of oil remnants, but you will find australias main primary product for making LPG is natural gas, not oil.
australia has a massive supply of natural gas.

you are also right in that australia exports billions of litres of the stuff (LPG), but to add further to the story they sell it for a pittifull rate of something like 4 cents per litre.
also consider that we are simply burning the stuff off due to not enough demand.

if the government really cared they would stop trying to globalise this country, and then we wouldnt have to pay Saudi LPG prices, nor the world oil prices because we also produce something like 90% of our own oil right here in OZ

it is our growing involvement with outside countries (globalisation) that is ruining our ways of living
Carl

Andrew^^^^^^^^Spot on^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
jbot

Andrew M, you have mentioned “also consider that we are simply burning the stuff off due to not enough demand” a few times now.. Mind showing me where you get that info? Cause I think it’s BS.
Dlr1

Andrew M,
Read the text, March 07 wholesale LPG price on global market 45 cents per litre. 4 years ago it was 20 cents per litre. When the world price goes up so does ours. Its called parity pricing. It doesn’t matter where it comes from or where its going, we live in a global market. If the Saudi price slumped to 15c per litre, local wholesale prices would follow despite it being locally manufactured. And we currently produce only about 60% of our oil needs, so as the global price rises, so does the local and so on.