Gasoline use plummeting in US

[Delawhere Jack]

This sort of decline can't be explained simply due to improved fuel economy. The implications are not good.

Charles Hugh Smith writes some really good articles. Insightful, pointed and succinct, just the way I like them.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-why-gasoline-consumption-tanking

PS Just as I was about to post this it dawned on my. Could deliveries be down because more gas is being imported rather than refined here?

[Engineer]

PS Just as I was about to post this it dawned on my. Could deliveries be down because more gas is being imported rather than refined here?

Acutally we're a huge exporter of refined fuel now. CNBC even broke down and admitted today that the price we pay at the pump is based off of Brent rather than West Texas Intermediate. Its been that way ever since we helped topple Libya.

[Mossy]

People are not commuting to work, so we buy less.

[JadeDragon]

Part of that may be hybrids. Part imports. Part enhanced fuel economy. Part is the economy - people can't afford gas so they drive less.

[DRP270]

Price is still increasing. Hit refresh to update. It is sometimes a day or two behind.

http://www.wtrg.com/daily/oilandgasspot.html

[Ardent Listener]

One factor is the mild winter we been having in the Midwest. Perhaps not as many traveling to Dixie's sunshine.

[Delawhere Jack]

PS Just as I was about to post this it dawned on my. Could deliveries be down because more gas is being imported rather than refined here?

Acutally we're a huge exporter of refined fuel now. CNBC even broke down and admitted today that the price we pay at the pump is based off of Brent rather than West Texas Intermediate. Its been that way ever since we helped topple Libya.

Yes, we are exporting a lot of refined gas from the gulf coast refineries to South America,they get a better price there than they can domestically. But we are also getting more gas refined offshore coming in to our east and west coast ports. Perhaps the gas that arrives already refined is not counted in this graph?

I've read in a few articles which stated that WTI isn't really an accurate gauge for oil prices anymore, since so little oil is delivered to that specific terminal. That would explain why pump prices are rising despite WTI being trading in a very narrow range (approx.) $96-$102 /bbl for the last month and a half.

Side note, has anyone noticed a significant drop in the number of tractor trailers in the road since 2008? I often travel I-95 in the area between Philly and Baltimore, and it seems to me that truck traffic is way down.

[Delawhere Jack]

One factor is the mild winter we been having in the Midwest. Perhaps not as many traveling to Dixie's sunshine.

I can be in Dixie in 20 minutes from my house. Well, if you consider "Cecil-tucky" County MD a part of Dixie that is.

[natsb88]

Part of that may be hybrids. Part imports. Part enhanced fuel economy. Part is the economy - people can't afford gas so they drive less.

Hybrids are an overhyped green marketing phenomenon. Doubt they even make a dent big enough to hide a Prius in overall gas consumption. Agree with enhanced fuel economy in general, but think the biggest factor is the economy. Not so much that people can't afford gas to get to work, but that people don't have the money for vacations, sporting events, trips to see distant family over holidays, and are taking the Neon instead of the Hummer on everyday commutes and errands.

[Engineer]

I agree with Nate on the hybrids. Late 80s Civics got close to 50mpg, and the new hybrid model gets around 40. Even the clean diesel thing is a lot of hype. My old "dirty" diesel easily got 20mpg, while the new clean model gets low teens. I'm not sure what's so clean about burning twice as much fuel...

IMHO, the thing that's really cutting back on fuel use is more people piling into fewer homes. More people commute together, and the weekly grocery run now feeds 5 people instead of 2.5. Also, with less driveway space per person many teenagers are waiting longer to get cars...and teenagers are capable of using up gas almost as fast as cell phone minutes.

[knibloe]

It looks like a steady decline since 2008. I believe that it can be explained by:

Higher gas prices making people conserve.
High unemployment- fewer people driving to work.

The real problem with this is that if we are less mobile as a society, then the sector of the economy that relies on people travelling will suffer.

[knibloe]

P.S a friend of mine is a trucker. He works for a gas company and delivers the gas to the service stations. He told me on Saturday that things are "real slow"

[fansubs_ca]

I'd be curious what Canadian numbers look like, I'm sure there is good reason why
2 gas stations in my part of the city closed over the last few years. One was low
volume attached to a repair shop (the repair part of the business is still running)
but the other was (what looked like) a busy station on a high traffic street, maybe
it was only busy at certain times of the day. Apparently their pumps were old and
they said they needed to sell at least $8,000,000 worth of gas a year for it to be
worth the company putting in new pumps. (The convienience store it was attached
to is still there.)

[Tourney64]

Oil usage in the USA has been dropping for years also. Oil is used in manufacturing as well. Just think what prices would be like if economy picked up again. Won't happen under Obama.

[Delawhere Jack]

A followup article from CHS. Additional data on energy use declining, including electricity.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-its-not-just-gasoline-consumption-thats-tanking-its-all-energy

[natsb88]

There's a small wood-burning power plant here that is being mothballed, they expect for 3-5 years, because of lower demand and competition from cheap natural gas. A nearby coal plant is also scaling back and laying off employees...the cost/BTU of natural gas is even cheaper than coal now.

[Cu Later]

nice. i wish i had a natural gas toyota & generator.

[knibloe]

nice. i wish i had a natural gas toyota & generator.

These would make a lot more sense than the electric cars they are trying to push.