U.K. Quarterly Gasoline Demand Rises on Tanker Strike Threat

U.K. gasoline consumption rose in the three months to March, the first quarterly increase since 2007, as motorists bought the fuel on concern about a tanker drivers’ strike, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.

Deliveries of gasoline for inland consumption in the U.K. totaled 3.45 million metric tons in the first quarter, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, DECC said in its monthly energy report published today. That was the first year-on-year quarterly gain since 2007, according to DECC.

The threat of a strike by tanker drivers, which was called off earlier this month, also resulted in diesel demand rising in the first quarter, DECC said. Consumption increased by 4.4 percent to 5.22 million tons in the three months to March, compared with the first quarter of last year.

Warmer weather in the first quarter saw demand for heating oil fall 17.9 percent, the data show. Deliveries were 950,000 tons, down from 1.16 million tons a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at rrowling@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net