US retail gasoline demand year-to-date down 1% – MasterCard

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. retail gasoline demand year-to-date declined 1 percent from the same time last year as prices for the fuel continued to rise, MasterCard Advisors said Tuesday.

“We’ve never seen prices at this level. It really seems that it’s had a material impact on consumers’ driving patterns,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of MasterCard Advisors.


Motorists pumped an average of 9.091 million barrels per day in the week that ended May 9. That was down 7 percent from the year-ago level.

Weekly gasoline demand dipped 0.6 percent from the previous week.

Such drops are unusual for the spring season, when demand usually begins ramping up ahead of the peak summer driving season, McNamara noted, but high prices kept a lid on demand.

Reuters