According to American Petroleum Institute (and reported in Autoblog Green), gasoline deliveries in the US dropped slightly in July - 9.3 million barrels a day, down 0.03% from a year ago. At the same time, petroleum was up 3.8% from a year ago, much of it driven by demand for low sulfur distillates, commonly used to make diesel fuel. It appears to be coming from the trucking industry coming back after a slight rebound in the economy.
It's possible the rising diesel demand has something to do with the increasing popularity of clean diesel vehicles. German automakers are bringing more of these to the U.S. market, with good examples being recent Green Car of the Year award winners Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Audi A3 TDI. New technology innovations like turbocharged direct injection (TDI) are facilitating greater power and performance with increased fuel economy. It will be interesting to see if Americans change their opinions about diesel engines from spewing smoke and smog with irritating noise, to being clean and efficient.
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