Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
It’s been taking place slowly, week after week, but low gas prices have brought gasoline demand back up. There has been anecdotal evidence that suggested demand might be heading higher, such as recovering sales of gas guzzling cars. But for watchers of This Week in Petroleum, the data confirm the anecdotes: Gasoline demand has recovered to the point that it is now higher in the U.S. than it was a year ago. This week’s Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data (off of which This Week in Petroleum is based) shows that the 4-week rolling average has for the first time in recent memory increased above (albeit slightly) the level of a year ago.
Another factor to keep an eye on as demand recovers is that refinery utilization is still quite low relative to what’s normal for this time of year. Percent utilization relative to the past 3 years is 3-5% lower for comparable weeks. This is starting to impact gasoline inventories. A typical January will see a healthy build of gasoline across the month, as refiners build stocks ahead of spring turarounds. This year, however, gasoline inventories have been flat across January, and this week in fact saw a drop of 2.6 million barrels. Inventories are still in decent shape, but they bear watching as we move toward spring.
Gasoline imports are also down marginally relative to the past two years, primarily a result of low gas prices. But the present trends of increasing demand, falling inventories, and low refinery utilization, suggest that prices will continue heading north.