Hello, tipping point? Drivers' demand for gasoline appears to have downshifted since Hurricane Katrina sent pump prices soaring above $3 a gallon across much of the nation.
Katrina initially sparked panic buying, sporadic shortages and televised images of long lines at some service stations. Then consumers pulled back as prices hit record highs, analysts said Thursday.
"America topped its tanks, and then the knee-jerk reaction was, 'I'm not going to pay $3.19 a gallon for gas,' " said Tom Kloza, chief analyst at Oil Price Information Service, an energy research firm.
Demand was likely to taper off anyway because the Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of the busy summer driving season. In addition, gas prices already were at or near record levels even before Katrina hit Aug. 29.
In the aftermath of Katrina, at least one gasoline seller reported a 15% drop in sales over Labor Day weekend compared with a year earlier, Kloza said.
A random sampling of motorists and other commuters in Southern California confirmed that many were conserving or taking public transportation instead of using their cars.
"I'm driving much less," said Natasha Tave, 30, as she paid $3.159 a gallon for premium gasoline to fill her Toyota Corolla at a Texaco station near downtown Los Angeles. "I drive straight home from work, and I don't drive until the next day now."
At L.A.'s historic Union Station rail hub, Kevin Smith of the Crenshaw district said he switched to the Metro Gold Line about two weeks ago, when the cost of driving his GMC Yukon sport utility vehicle to his job in Pasadena jumped to $125 a week.
"I was just trying to get to work, but after a week, I was like, 'Hell, no,' " said Smith, 24. "Reality kicked in."
The Energy Department issues weekly reports on gasoline demand and supplies, and many analysts expected its newest report Thursday to show a surge in demand during the four days after Katrina's devastation, reflecting the panic buying.
Yet the agency's statistics arm, the Energy Information Administration, reported Thursday that in the week ended Sept. 2, gasoline demand fell 4% from the previous week to 9.03 million barrels a day.
The Energy Information Administration also said that for the four weeks ended Sept. 2, demand inched up only 0.1% from a year earlier to 9.33 million barrels a day, an increase well below the 1.2% to 1.6% year-over-year gains reported in late August.
