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
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
