Gas Use Hits Record Low, Prices Still Sky High

Increasing supply fails to dent price
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 10, 2008 2:21 AM CDT
Gas Use Hits Record Low, Prices Still Sky High
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives a news conference on gas prices in front of a Shell gas station in San Francisco.    (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Soaring gas prices are changing Americans driving habits, cutting consumption to the lowest levels in five years, reports the Wall Street Journal. Gas consumption dropped by 3.3% to 9.3 million barrels a day compared with last year's Fourth of July holiday. Some 62% of Americans are changing summer plans because of rising gas prices, and 15% have canceled vacations altogether.

Yet despite falling demand and increasing supply, oil prices remain high. "We think oil is set for a significant correction," said an energy research analyst. "But it's probably not going to occur until the end of this year or early next year." (More gas stories.)

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