US gasoline deliveries up despite price rise

摘要

Washington—US gasoline deliveries, a proxyfor consumer demand, rose in March for thesecond straight month despite rising prices,the American Petroleum Institute said April 20.While the delivery rise was slight at 3%compared to March of 2011, it bucked thetrend of lower overall petroleum deliveries,which fell 1.3% in March compared to thesame month last year, the API said.Gasoline deliveries rose 0.9% in February,the first monthly rise since February, 2011.But that demand also came in a month whereoverall petroleum deliveries fell. For the firstthree months of 2012, gasoline demand roseonly 0.4%, while total petroleum deliveries fell2.7%, the API said.