Stumped at the Pump. Demand for gas has fallen, yet prices keep rising

摘要

You can no longer call Americans irresponsible energy pigs. Yeah, we're still piggy in that we use a disproportionate amount of the world's energy. We still love our SUVs and pickups the way teenagers like to text. But since 2008, when gasoline first reached $4 a gallon, our gas gluttony has changed. Ford's average fuel economy has improved by 20% since 2004, for instance, and sales of the up-to-40-m.p.g. Ford Focus are way up. We've even stopped getting in the car to go two blocks to pick up a quart of milk. (Well, maybe you have; I don't own a car.) Weekly gasoline demand is "tepid," says JPMorgan oil analyst Lawrence Eagles, and he expects U.S. demand to fall this year by 100,000 barrels a day, even as the economy expands 2.2%.