Gasoline supplied, dropped to the lowest level since mid-February

Oil prices end lower on weak U.S. gasoline demand

The most notable takeaway from the Energy Information Administration report Wednesday was the weekly implied measure of consumer demand for fuel at the pump, gasoline supplied, which dropped to the lowest level since mid-February, said Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research.

That indicated a “steady and relatively quick pullback” in domestic fuel consumption in recent weeks,” he told MarketWatch.

U.S. gasoline supplied for the week ended April 19 fell by 239,000 barrels a day to 8.4 million bpd.

And that was “not a ‘one-off’ either, as the 4-week moving average of the often volatile gasoline supplied data fell for a third consecutive week to the lowest reading since the week of March 8th,” said Richey. The EIA data showed the four-week average for gasoline supplied, as of last week, down 3.7 million bpd at 8.7 million bpd.

“Those disappointing implied consumer demand figures paired with the smaller than expected gasoline supply draw on the headline poured some cold water on the market…as worries of a persistently tight physical fuel market are beginning to subside,” said Richey.