US gasoline demand seen pushing higher – Gasbuddy

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – US gasoline demand increased 1.8% in the week ending July 18 versus the previous week, according to data compiled by the GasBuddy website, which tracks gasoline demand and retail prices.

If the data is confirmed by US government agency the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it will mark the second-highest daily-demand period since the pandemic began, just behind the record-breaking week ending July 2 in the run-up to the July 4 holiday weekend.

The US EIA reported gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, hit 10 million bpd in the week ending July 2, the highest daily figure in data going back more than 30 years.

However, gasoline demand for the following week dropped to 9.3 million bpd, while stocks built by 1 million barrels to 237 million.

The latest GasBuddy figures put daily demand figures back above 9.5 million bpd – or around 10% of global oil demand.

Meanwhile, UK motoring body the RAC expects "unprecedented" traffic levels on UK roads this summer as drivers embark on more than 29 million UK holidays.

The figures suggest the number of drivers expecting to travel abroad has fallen, down from 10% in April to just 7%.

Gasoline has been the primary driver in the oil demand recovery, strengthening further after last's week's EIA data.

Cracks for RBOB gasoline versus Brent were around $23/b last week, while cracks for August Eurobob gasoline paper against Brent were pegged around $12.50/b.