Gasoline Prices Continue To Plunge; U.S. Crude Oil Supply At 86-Year High

[NickB79]

20. US gasoline demand is NOT reduced. It is forecast to hit an all-time high this year!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2016/07/21/u-s-gasoline-demand-reaches-record-levels/#35aac29376c4

Motor gasoline consumption is forecast to increase by 130,000 b/d (1.5%) to 9.29 million b/d in 2016, which would make it the highest annual average gasoline consumption on record, beating the previous record set in 2007 by 0.1%. The increase in gasoline consumption reflects a forecast 2.5% increase in highway travel (because of employment growth and lower retail gasoline prices) that is partially offset by increases in vehicle fleet fuel economy.

Thanks to cheap gas, sales of hybrid and EV cars have plummeted: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/06/03/may-2016-green-car-sales/

June gloom appeared to come a month early for makers of hybrids, plug-ins, and diesels, as US green-car sales last month plunged 32 percent from a year earlier to about 36,600 vehicles.

While the new Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in continues to see increased demand, plug-in vehicle sales declined 5.5 percent to about 9,700 units. In fact, factoring out the stop-sale of Volkswagen diesel vehicles – which generated 7,900 sales units for May 2015 – May's green-car sales were still about 9,000 units short of a year earlier.

Once again, cheap gas means idiots start buying up trucks and SUV's. It never fails. If we gave a flying fuck about the climate, we'd enact taxes that would ensure gas never fell below $4/gal. ever again, and use those tax proceeds to incentivize rail lines, bus routes, and tax breaks for hybrid and EV vehicles. But I have no hope we'll see that happen anytime soon.