Domestic demand for fuel has been tepid since the financial crisis, but that is also now set to change. The winter slowdown notwithstanding, drivers are returning to roads in numbers last seen in 2008 and are again buying gas-guzzling vehicles.
“The F150s [a Ford pickup model] and the SUVs are flying out of the dealers’ showrooms these days,” says Charlie Drevna, president of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, a refiner industry group. “You can’t put the spouse, the Rottweiler, the hockey equipment and the kids in a Smart car.”