The American Petroleum Institute (API) said recently that total U.S. petroleum deliveries in April showed a 3.6 percent increase over those of April 2015, indicating an increased demand for gasoline.
“April continued this year’s trend of record gasoline demand thanks to low prices,” API Chief Economist Erica Bowman said. “Record-high crude oil stocks – the highest since 1920 – contributed to the record-high gasoline consumer demand for the month of April.”
The data also showed that April 2016’s average of 19.7 million barrels per day is the highest rate of deliveries since 2008. These increases also were observed on the consumer side, where total motor gasoline deliveries showed a 2.5 percent increase, compared with April 2015 rates, at an average of approximately 9.4 million barrels per day, the highest April rate on record.. Additionally, distillate deliveries showed a 1 percent increase.
These increases come at a time when crude oil production has fallen – to an average of 8.9 million barrels daily in April, a 7.8 percent decrease from April 2015. Total petroleum imports rose to 9.9 million barrels per day in April, a 6.7 percent increase from a year ago. Refinery gross inputs reflect the reduction in crude oil production, falling by 0.9 percent, but production of natural gas liquids (NGL) rose by 0.7 percent.
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