US oil consumption peaked twelve years ago in 2005, at 40.3 quadrillion btu. And, since the great recession ended, US oil consumption has made a weak recovery from lower levels. Last year, US oil consumption reached 36.02 quadrillion btu; still more than 10% below the 2005 peak. None of this is surprising. Nor is it news.
What has surprised, of late, is that US oil demand has flattened out in 2017. Through the first ten months of the year (OK, call it 43 weeks), the EIA data series covering weekly product suppliedshows no growth at all compared to 2016. Bloomberg’s Liam Denning started noticing this flattening early last month. A comparative review of the EIA data series covering monthly motor gasoline supplied, through the first eight months of the year, also showed no growth vs the same period of 2016. Perhaps US oil demand will get going again in the final eight weeks of the year. Or, the various EIA data series will be revised upward.
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