May oil demand down 0.1 pct from year ago: API

Demand for crude oil and petroleum products in May fell a slight 0.1 percent from a year earlier, and U.S. gasoline use for the January-May period dropped for the first time since 1991, as record-high pump prices dented demand, the American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday.

Total petroleum product deliveries, excluding exports, averaged 20.614 million barrels per day, down 17,000 bpd from May 2007, the API said in its monthly oil report.

Sagging gasoline and residual fuel use was nearly offset by strong demand for distillates and jet fuel, the API said

Reuters