US petroleum demand rises in April as distillate gains offset lower gasoline use - API
A strong increase in distillate fuel demand this April over a year ago drove an overall rise in petroleum product demand, offsetting a decline in gasoline demand, the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group said on Friday.
Distillate demand was up 15.2% while overall petroleum product demand was up 5.2%. As gasoline prices rose 24 cents/gal from March, gasoline demand faltered, falling 2.2% compared with April 2010 and declining for the first time in three months.
"Growth in product demand was mixed as the US economy struggled to gain momentum," said API chief economist John Felmy.
"Gasoline demand was still up for the year to date over a year ago, but recent higher gasoline and food prices appear to have encouraged consumers to cut back in their driving,” he said. “In contrast, deliveries of ultra-low-sulfur distillate, the fuel used in commercial trucking, surged, suggesting continuing forward motion in the economy."
Although gasoline production at US refineries fell in April for the first time this year, volumes were still the second highest for any April over the past 10 years. On a year-to-date basis, gasoline production, like distillate production, remained at a record high.
Crude oil production in April fell 0.5% to 5.5mn bpd, reversing small production volume gains in March over the year before. The decline was led by a 0.6% drop in the lower 48 states. Year-to-date crude oil production was still up slightly by 0.5%.
Total imports of crude oil and petroleum products were down by 9.9% in April compared with last year, a trend seen through all four months of 2011, the API said. The US continued to be a net exporter of refined products.
Inventories of crude oil, at 365.1mn barrels, were 2.7% higher than in March and 1.2% higher than in April 2010. Gasoline stocks at 210.8mn barrels were lower than in March and lower than in April 2010, by 4.5% and 4.0% respectively.
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