Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline demand fell 3.9 percent last week as consumers drove less, a MasterCard Inc. report today showed.

Motorists bought an average 9.015 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Oct. 31, down from 9.378 million a year earlier, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. The decline was the 28th in a row.

``The story that is starting to unfold is the difference between the falling prices and demand,'' said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors.

Demand has been increasing since the beginning of October, narrowing the year-over-year difference, McNamara said. Last week's decline was the smallest since the week ended Sept. 12.

U.S. gasoline consumption in the seven days ended Oct. 31 was 1.3 percent higher than the prior week.

Gasoline demand this year peaked at 9.65 million barrels a day in the week ended Aug. 1, 5.9 percent below the 2007 maximum of 10.25 million in the week ended Aug. 17.

The national average pump price for regular gasoline fell 26 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $2.56 a gallon from $2.82 the prior week, MasterCard said. The price touched a record $4.10 the week ended July 18.

The U.S. Energy Department said the average pump price was $2.40 a gallon in the week ended yesterday. AAA, the nation's biggest motoring group, said on its Web site today that the average price is $2.391 a gallon.

Today's report from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard was assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company's consulting arm. The data is based on credit-card swipes and cash and check payments at about 140,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

Visa Inc. is the biggest credit-card company by transactions processed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2008 14:01 EST