Fuel Consumption Surged 6.5% to 20 Million Barrels a Day in U.S., API Says
U.S. fuel consumption jumped in November from a year earlier, a signal that the U.S. economy is rebounding, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Total deliveries of petroleum products, a measure of demand, climbed 6.5 percent to 20 million barrels a day last month, the industry-funded group said today in a report. Consumption during the first 11 months of 2010 climbed 2.4 percent to 19.2 million barrels a day.
“Fuel demand continues to strengthen, a positive sign for the economy,” John Felmy, chief economist with the Washington- based API, said in the report. “Gasoline deliveries are up three months in a row and distillate deliveries are up 10 months in a row.”
Demand for ultra-low sulfur diesel, the type used on highways, rose 13 percent to average 3.33 million barrels a day, the report showed. Use of the fuel during the first 11 months of the year rose 3.9 percent to 2.99 million barrels a day.
Total use of distillate fuel, a category that includes diesel and heating oil, rose 14 percent to 4.01 million barrels a day. Demand climbed 4.7 percent to 3.78 million barrels a day through November.
Deliveries of gasoline increased 3.2 percent to 9.19 million barrels a day, the report showed. Consumption during the year so far averaged 9.06 million barrels a day, up 0.7 percent from the same period in 2009.
Jet-fuel use surged 17 percent to an average 1.58 million barrels a day. Daily demand averaged 1.48 million barrels through November, a 5.8 percent gain.
U.S. crude-oil production rose 0.2 percent to an average 5.44 million barrels a day in November. Output in the lower 48 states increased 1.2 percent to 4.82 million barrels a day. Alaskan production slipped 7.3 percent to 614,000 barrels a day.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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