US Petroleum Demand Hits Lowest Level For a November Month in 17 Years; Foreshadowing the Recession of 2013; Other Data Shows US Advantage Relative To Europe

Link here to Oil & Gas Journal.

US petroleum demand remained weak in November, averaging 18.5 million b/d and reaching the lowest level for the month in 17 years, the American Petroleum Institute reported.

Other data points:

• gasoline demand, 8.5 million b/d, fell 0.3% y/y (inconsequential)
• distillate fuel demand, 3.8 million b/d, fell a significant 6.3% y/y (significant)

 Looking toward the Great Recession of 2013:

“The economy has shown modest improvement—in employment, for example – but the fundamentals of fuel demand fail to indicate a strengthening recovery is imminent,” API Chief Economist John C. Felmy said.

“Look at the weakness in distillate deliveries, including ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, which is critical to shipping just about everything in our economy,” he continued. “It was down 4.5% from November last year.”

But, looking at the advantage the US has over Europe in manufacturing, going forward:

• crude oil and condensate production, meanwhile, climbed 13.3% y/y to nearly 6.8 million b/d
• production of natural gas liquids, an increasingly important element of US oil and gas production because of their role as a manufacturing feedstock, rose 1.5% from November 2012 to 2.4 million b/d