Gasoline consumption down ~3.5% & traffic deaths down even more
One of the great symptoms of less driving in the US is a reduction in the number of fatal traffic accidents. While some analysts predicted that a shift toward smaller vehicles may make travelers less safe than an SUV-dominated roadscape, recent figures from the National Safety Council seem to fly in the face of that argument. Deaths over the first five months of 2008 are down 9% from those in 2007.
This reduction is largely explained by a decrease in miles traveled. The EIA reported, in their stockpile summary, another week of gasoline consumption that is ~3.5% lower than last year. This fall in demand is allowing stockpiles of gasoline to climb above average levels. Diesel demand is still slightly higher last year, though continued increases in distillates production has made up for the demand. US stockpiles of crude oil and propane continue to be way below average, applying some pressure to keep oil prices from falling much further than they have recently. For everyone that has lowered their fuel demand, congratulations to contributing toward a small price reduction over the last week. The more we reduce our demand, the more we can hold the price below recent records. Tomorrow’s natural gas report should be interesting to see, and I will report on other developments as they materialize.