Gasoline demand sees biggest fall in decade: API
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:50 AM ET Oct. 19, 2005
marketwatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. gasoline deliveries, a key measure of demand, fell almost 4% in September to log their biggest year-to-year decline in more than a decade, the American Petroleum Institute reported Wednesday morning.
"Motorists apparently found ways to manage fuel use and travel more efficiently in the face of higher September gasoline prices following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita striking along the U.S. Gulf Cost," the API said in a monthly report.
At the same time, September domestic crude output fell 22% from a year ago to 3.95 million barrels per day -- its lowest level since 1943, the API said.
For the third quarter, crude output averaged 4.8 million barrels per day, "the lowest quarter in more than 50 years," it said.
Refinery capacity utilization reached its lowest level for the month of September in 20 years, the API said. It averaged 82.7% for the month, with one-fifth of the county's refining capacity not in operation by the end of September in the wake of Katrina and Rita.
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