U.S. gasoline prices at a standstill amid lackluster demand

May 19 (UPI) -- Lower-than-expected U.S. consumer demand has resulted in little movement in the retail price for a gallon of gasoline over the last week, data show.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, reported that the total amount of refined petroleum products sent to the market, a proxy for implied demand, was up 2% from year-ago levels to reach 19.9 million barrels per day.

For just gasoline, the amount sent out to the market was up 2.9% from this time last year to average 9.1 million bpd over the four-week period ending May 12.

For the comparable week in 2019, to discount the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, total product supplied averaged 20.1 million bpd and 9.4 million bpd for gasoline.

That's left retail gasoline prices at something of a standstill. For Friday, AAA put the national average retail price at $3.54 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline, unchanged from this time last week.

Andrew Gross, a spokesman for AAA, said demand for road fuels has not been as strong as expected for this time of year.

"It's possible this is merely the lull before Memorial Day, but it could be a trend that lingers into summer," he said.

AAA is expecting this upcoming holiday, however, to be the third-busiest Memorial Day weekend in terms of travel since the association started keeping tabs in 2000. More than 42 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home, an increase of 2.7 million people, or 7%, over last year.

The expected uptick in demand could eventually push retail gasoline prices higher, though prices last summer actually declined from $4.87 per gallon the week after Memorial Day to $3.78 during the week following Labor Day in September.

Last year's markets, however, were skewed as the global economy adjusted for the loss of Russian crude oil and refined petroleum products due to sanctions. Prices at the pump nevertheless could be supported by a rally in crude oil prices.

Most major market indices bounced this week amid optimism that the United States won't default on its debt obligations come June.

The price of crude oil, which accounts for the bulk of what consumers see at the pump, is on pace for the first major increase in weeks.

The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, is headed to a 3% gain on the week, trading early Friday at around $76 per barrel.