U.S. Weekly Gasoline Demand Up, But Not Stellar

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--While the number of travelers nationwide is yet to be confirmed, preliminary federal data on gasoline demand implied it was a busy Memorial Day weekend this year, though the devil may be in the details.

Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the data arm of the Department of Energy, found that the average retail price for regular unleaded gasoline in May was $3.29 per gallon, compared with an average of $3.69 during the same period last year.

Lower prices were behind estimates from travel club AAA for a record-setting travel year for the long Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer holiday season in the United States.

AAA said it had expected 45.1 million people would travel more than 50 miles from home during the long holiday weekend, beating last year by 1.4 million and besting the previous record of 44 million people set in 2005.

Nationwide figures on road travel have yet to be released. While variable, air travel levels appeared suppressed relative to last year, though consumer demand for fuel in the run-up to the long May 24-26 weekend showed an increase.

Over the seven-day period ending May 23, the EIA said Thursday that the total amount of gasoline supplied to the market, a proxy for consumer demand, averaged 9.5 million barrels per day, a 10% increase over the prior week.

Despite some economic headwinds, U.S. consumers are growing confident. The Conference Board this week said consumer attitudes on the U.S. economy have improved from earlier this year, showing optimism about future income prospects.

"However, while consumers were more positive about current business conditions than last month, their appraisal of current job availability weakened for the fifth consecutive month," Stephanie Guichard, a senior economist at the Conference Board, said on Tuesday.

That's apparent in the energy data. The EIA showed a week-on-week improvement in demand, but the longer, less volatile, four-week average for the amount of gasoline delivered to the market as of May 23 was down 1.5% from the same period last year.

For distillates, a refined petroleum product that includes diesel, the four-week average for implied demand was down 2.6% from year-ago levels.

The return of President Donald Trump to the White House in January ushered in a period of unprecedented market volatility as his aggressive, protectionist trade policies undermined a global order that existed since the end of World War II.

On-again, off-again policies on tariffs, which are a tax paid by importers, have led to heightened market volatility, undermining investor confidence. On Thursday, the Federal Court of International Trade ruled that Trump's justification for tariffs was an act of executive overreach, triggering a market rally. That rally only evaporated after another court ruled the tariffs could continue while the federal government's appeals process plays out. For more on that, see May 30, 2025, article - Appeals Court Pauses Block on Trump Tariffs.

"Despite the temporary reprieve, one must not be mistaken," Tamas Varga, an analyst at London oil broker PVM, wrote in a Friday newsletter. "The administration will fight back on every imaginable front to overturn the decision of the federal court, chaos will ensue, and volatility will remain."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).