Regional Energy Market Overview

The US is now expected over the next couple of years to see a reversal of the recent healthy oil demand growth trend, with declines in consumption at least in 2008 and 2009. While decades of low gasoline taxation may have failed to force US motorists into the use of more fuel-efficient vehicles, the 2008 summer gasoline price spike and the credit crunch appear to have done the trick. Refining capacity in the US is insufficient to meet national needs and, with limited scope for expansion, the country is faced with higher imports of refined products.

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