May 7, 2020 - Energy & Environment
U.S. demand for gasoline rose again last week, per Energy Information Administration data that provides the latest sign of fuel consumption recovering a bit.
Why it matters: EIA's weekly data is preliminary and can be noisy, but it was the latest of several weeks of increases, and it's consistent with other signs of driving starting to pick back up.
- The chart above shows product supplied, which is a proxy for consumption.
The big picture: Crude oil prices have also climbed out of their April depths as producers cut back supply and demand starts recovering somewhat from the unprecedented pandemic-fueled collapse.
But, but, but: Oil prices remain far below profitable levels for huge swaths of the industry amid the gigantic supply glut that's straining global storage infrastructure.
- "The overwhelming glut is threatening one of the world’s vital industries and could prolong the economic fallout from the coronavirus," The Wall Street Journal notes in an in-depth look at the crisis this morning.