November oil products deliveries, a measure of demand, were an estimated 19.015 million bpd, dropping 7.4 percent from a year ago to the lowest November level since 1988, said API in its monthly statistical report released last week.

At an estimated 8.910 million bpd, gasoline deliveries in November fell 3.5 percent versus the corresponding 2007 period. Distillate deliveries were an estimated 3.873 million bpd, a drop of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago. Estimated at 1.455 million bpd in November, jet fuel deliveries tumbled 9.0 percent on the year, while residual fuel oil deliveries, estimated at 639,000 bpd, sank nearly 17.0 percent.

“The decline in oil demand reflects the nation’s faltering economy,” said Ron Planting, manager, information and analysis for the American Petroleum Institute. “And the decline occurred even though prices were dramatically down-in the case of gasoline, more than 30 percent less than November 2007. Indeed, from October to November 2008, gasoline prices plummeted 90 cents per gallon on average.”

The data indicated that while U.S. product demand shrank, domestic crude oil production rose to 5.1 million bpd, which is 2.5 percent above November 2007 and continues to rebound from September’s hurricane-induced low.

A 12.5 percent decline in oil product imports in November nearly masked a 1.6 percent increase in crude oil imports compared with a year ago to an estimated 10.149 million bpd. Combined imports of crude oil and products averaged 12.9 million bpd during the month reviewed, their lowest level for November since 2003.

API reported crude oil inventories continued to rise in November, reaching 319 million bbl, 6.4 percent above year-ago levels and the highest monthly figure since August 2007. At 202.9 million bbl, gasoline supply rose 3.7 percent from the prior month and 0.9 percent on the year. Distillate fuel oil supply in November totaled 132.6 million bbl, an increase of 1.6 percent from November 2007, while jet fuel inventories totaled 38.6 million bbl, a drop of 4.0 percent on the year.

November inputs to crude distillate units, an overall measure of activity at refineries, rose more than 300,000 bpd from a month ago, yet with the sharp fall in product demand declined 2.6 percent from a year ago. Refineries operated at 86.2 percent of capacity during the month under review, 2.7 percent below year prior levels. The drop in refinery utilization was substantially less than the 7-percentage point drop for the entire manufacturing sector, from 79.3 in November 2007 to 72.2 percent this November.