U.S. Q1 fuel demand down 1.4 percent from year ago - API

Karen Matusic | 202.682.8118 | matusick@api.org

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2008 – U.S. first quarter fuel demand, as measured by deliveries of petroleum products, was 1.4 percent below year-ago levels, the third straight quarter of year-on-year declines in the world’s largest oil consuming nation, according to API’s year-end Monthly Statistical Report.

The API statistics showed that gasoline deliveries rose a modest 0.7 percent in the quarter, more than offset by a 1.8 percent drop in distillate deliveries, a 0.5 percent decline in jet fuel deliveries and a big 18.4 percent decline in residual fuel oil demand.

“The first quarter’s decline comes on the heels of three years of flat to declining deliveries,” said Ron Planting, manager, information and analysis, for API.

U.S refineries continued to churn out record amounts of gasoline and distillate. U.S. gasoline output rose to 8.85 million barrels a day, a 1.5 percent increase compared to first quarter 2007. Meanwhile, distillate production was up 1.4 percent to 4.03 million barrels per day and jet fuel output stood 2.4 percent higher. At the same time, domestic crude oil production averaged 5.07 million barrels a day, down 3.2 percent from a year ago and nearly 22 percent below a decade ago.

Total imports of crude oil and refined products averaged 12.8 million barrels per day, down 3.5 percent from a year ago. Product imports were down more than eight percent from first quarter 2007, while crude imports fell 1.8 percent.

Crude oil inventories have risen since the start of the year but ended March 5.7 percent below a year ago. Gasoline stocks remained 8.5 percent above year-ago levels and more than six percent above the five-year average for this time of year. Distillate inventories stood 5.6 percent below end-march 2007 levels but stocks of ultra-low sulfur diesel were up nearly 16 percent.

Scheduled maintenance and the annual switchover from winter-grade to summer-grade gasoline took a toll on refinery capacity utilization. Refineries operated at 85.2 percent of capacity in March, the lowest monthly average since February 2007.