In April 2009, miles driven by US motorists increased year/year for the first time since late 2007. The US DOT traffic data released today for April is a lagging indicator of oil demand. The average price of crude oil (NYMEX WTI) back in April 2009 was $49.95 per barrel. It will be interesting to see if this traffic recovery continues now that oil is hovering around $70 per barrel. Complicating year/year comparisons this year will that this year's data is being compared to a period when oil prices spiked during 2008 and the credit crisis.
Friday, June 19, 2009
US Traffic Growth
In April 2009, miles driven by US motorists increased year/year for the first time since late 2007. The US DOT traffic data released today for April is a lagging indicator of oil demand. The average price of crude oil (NYMEX WTI) back in April 2009 was $49.95 per barrel. It will be interesting to see if this traffic recovery continues now that oil is hovering around $70 per barrel. Complicating year/year comparisons this year will that this year's data is being compared to a period when oil prices spiked during 2008 and the credit crisis.