"So much oil demand" that : total U.S. oil demand fell in 2006 ....................................
(See last paragraph).
UPDATE: EIA: US Revised July Oil Use -0.5% Vs Yr Ago
Tue, Oct 2 2007, 16:00 GMT
UPDATE: EIA: US Revised July Oil Use -0.5% Vs Yr Ago
(adds residual fuel, distillate details, year-to-date figures)
By David Bird
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Revised data show U.S. oil demand in July averaged 20.641 million barrels a day, down 0.5% from 20.74 million barrels a day a year ago and the lowest demand level for the month since 2003.
Figures released Tuesday by the Energy Information Administration show demand for gasoline - the most widely used petroleum product - set a record high in July at 9.622 million barrels a day, up 0.2% from the revised previous record high of 9.607 million barrels a day set a year ago.
But the revised July 2007 gasoline demand figure was 43,000 barrels a day below preliminary estimates for the month.
Demand for distillate fuel (diesel and heating oil) rose 1% to 3.988 million barrels a day, which was simultaneously a record for the month of July, but the lowest distillate demand level for any month since July 2006. Still, the strong July distillate figure was 2.4% below the preliminary level for demand in the month, of 4.083 million barrels a day.
Demand for jet fuel fell 1.9% from a year ago, to 1.668 million barrels a day, revised data show. That's the highest demand level for any month since August 2006, but the lowest for July since 2004. The revised July 2007 figure is up 38,000 barrels a day from the preliminary estimate.
Demand for heavy residual fuel oil averaged 656,000 barrels a day in July, 50,000 barrels a day lower than earlier estimates, and 11,000 barrels a day below the year-ago level. Demand for resid was the lowest in any month since November 2006 and the weakest in July since 2002.
With the distillate fuel category, demand for ultra-low diesel fuel, which is fast becoming the industry standard, averaged 3.022 million barrels a day in July, down 24,000 barrels a day from June, but 71% above year-ago levels when use of the fuel was expanding.
Demand for low-sulfur diesel fuel, the former standard, and high-sulfur distillate fuel, used as home-heating oil, continued to fall away, reflecting the shift to lower-sulfur fuel. Low-sulfur diesel demand averaged 466,000 barrels a day in July, down from 494,000 barrels a day in June and the lowest on record for any month, in data going back to 1994. Demand of high-sulfur distillate was also the lowest on records since 1994, at 500,000 barrels a day, down from 590,000 barrels a day in June.
On a year-to-date basis, total oil demand through July is averaging 20.707 million barrels a day, up 0.7% from the year-ago level of 20.572 million barrels a day. Figures for 2006 were revised Friday in EIA's Petroleum Supply Annual report.
Gasoline demand in the first seven months of year, based on latest data, is averaging 9.268 million barrels a day, up 0.8% from a year ago.
Year-to-date distillate fuel demand is up 2.1% from a year ago, averaging 4.227 million barrels a day, latest data show.
Jet fuel demand in the first seven months of 2007 is averaged 0.4% below a year ago, at 1.628 million barrels a day.
Residual fuel demand is averaging 4.4% above a year ago in the first seven months of 2007, at 759,000 barrels a day.
On Friday, EIA said U.S. oil demand in 2006 dropped 0.6% to 20.687 million barrels a day from a year earlier and was the lowest level since 2003, based on final data for the year. The rate of decline was the largest since 1991, but was less than the 1% drop shown in earlier, preliminary data. The decline in 2006 marks just the fourth year since 1990 that annual oil demand dropped in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer. The volume of oil consumed in the U.S. was the lowest since 2003, EIA data show.
-By David Bird, Dow Jones Newswires, 1-201-938-4423; david.bird@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 02, 2007 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)
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