Low prices encouraging US gasoline consumption

Drivers, builders and refiners are gorging on cheap oil and making the most of the market

Cheaper oil is lifting US gasoline consumption and, in tandem with higher refinery use and encouraging signs of sustained growth in the economy, is dragging American crude demand with it.The US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) short-term energy outlook in June forecast a 3.4% year-on-year rise in US liquid fuel supply for the month to an average 19.47m barrels a day (b/d). Gains were recorded across all sectors, including gasoline, jet fuel and distillates.The EIA also forecast a general growth in demand over the next year, allowing for seasonal fluctuations, with the supply figure for June 2016 projected to edge up to 19.67m b/d. That remains well short of the near 21mn b/d reached