U.S. gas prices fall to 7-week low, demand for gasoline rises

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Tuesday that U.S. gasoline prices fell to their lowest level in seven weeks and diesel fell just below $4 a gallon for the first time in two months. The national price for regular unleaded gas fell 5.5 cents over the last week to $3.79 a gallon, the agency said. Diesel prices fell 5 cents to $3.95 a gallon.

Consumer demand for gasoline in the U.S. last week picked up by 3.1 percent, the MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report said on Wednesday. However, week-on-week demand over the last four weeks was still down by 2 percent over the same period last year.

“The overall demand picture has not changed that much over the past couple of months with demand remaining down 1 to 2 percent year-over-year for the four-week moving average,” said John Gamel, a gasoline analyst at MasterCard Advisors.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Reuters