US ‘05 Oil Demand -0.3% vs Year Ago At 20.668 Million B/D: EIA

In a year that saw the highest ever U.S. oil prices on a nominal basis, oil demand dipped by 60,000 barrels a day, or 0.3%, to 20.668 million barrels a day, preliminary government data released Thursday show.

The slim decline was the first since 2001 and the most since 1991, data from the Energy Information Administration show. The dip followed a rise in demand of 3.5%, or nearly 700,000 barrels a day, in 2004.