This is from an article I just read about
“American consumption of oil also rose last year, by 390,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 percent, to 18.9 million barrels a day”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3115473/posts
Now this one says 4-5%. Hmmm.....
Yeah I know. I’m seeing the same discrepancies. The percentages seem to be off. But the hard number remains the same.
The basic thing is that demand grew a lot an unexpectedly in 2013. The EIA expects USA demand to flatten in 2014. But given the spike in demand in the last quarter of 2013, it seems likely that the demand will continue through 2014. I don’t know whether the spike was cold related or economy related or both. There is a case for the demand surge to be economy related since its growing at a 3% clip in the last quarter. However, it has been cold. Someone else would have to burrow into the numbers to get an answer.
“Now this one says 4-5%. Hmmm.....”
It’s difficult to gather data as there’s no requirement for a company to report what it produced or exported. Having sat in corporate meetings where managers turned a horrible disaster into a marvelous victory by manipulating the numbers I’m skeptical of all pronouncements. I suspect that demand may be up, but by how much is a guess.
As to people buying SUV’s and trucks, I’ve been driving a VW Jetta Sportwagen for a year. I feel cramped and confined. Last night I dusted off my 2003 Mercury Marauder and picked up dinner guests. (It’s a Gran Marque body.) It felt so good not to be stuffed into a little econobox. If government got out of the way fuel prices would drop and we wouldn’t have to be perpetually crushed in luxurious but uncomfortable cars.
BTW, VW, if you’re listening, you could improve the car immeasurably by PUTTING IN A BENCH SEAT!