U.S. Gasoline Demand Declined Last Week, MasterCard Says

U.S. gasoline demand fell 0.5 percent last week to a five-week low even as prices at the pump declined further, according to MasterCard Inc. (MA)

Drivers bought 8.97 million barrels a day of gasoline in the week ended June 8, down from 9.01 million the week before, MasterCard’s SpendingPulse report showed.

The average pump price declined 5 cents in the past week to $3.58 a gallon, the lowest level since Feb. 17. Prices are 4.5 percent below a year earlier.

The highest prices were on the West Coast, where the average fell 7 cents to $4.13 a gallon. The lowest prices were on the Gulf Coast, where a gallon declined 5 cents to $3.37.

Fuel consumption was 3.5 percent below the year-earlier level, the 41st straight drop in that measure. Year-to-date gasoline demand is 4.8 percent below 2011.

“This past week was the third in a row of increasing year- over-year declines, even while prices at the pump continued to fall and have fallen over 35 cents since peaking at $3.94 for the week ending April 6,” John Gamel, a gasoline analyst and director of economic analysis for SpendingPulse, said in the report.

Fuel use over the previous four weeks fell 1.9 percent below the same period in 2011, a record 64th consecutive drop in that measure.

The report from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard is assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company’s consulting arm. The information is based on credit-card swipes and cash and check payments at about 140,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

Visa Inc. (V) is the biggest payments network company by transactions processed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Barbara J Powell in Dallas at bpowell4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net