U.S. petroleum deliveries during September increased year over year however, “comparisons against year-ago figures are muddled by the temporary effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike on crude production, imports, and product deliveries in September 2008,” the American Petroleum Institute reported in its Monthly Statistical Report. Domestic petroleum deliveries, a measure of demand, totaled 18.6 million bpd, up 4.1 percent from a year ago.

Gasoline deliveries in September strengthened, marking the fourth month in a row for which deliveries of that product regained ground over year-ago trends. The data shows deliveries increased 6.6 percent from September 2008, though API said a major part of that climb reflected unusual year ago conditions more than growth in 2009.

“The most basic explanation for increasing gasoline deliveries is the lack of hurricanes this September, compared with the major impact of Gustav and Ike last year on refinery production and product distribution,” said API Statistics Manager Ron Planting. “But even if last September’s deliveries had not been affected by those temporary factors, we estimate that this September’s deliveries still would have been up 2 percent or more from last year, apparently an indicator of the somewhat improved health of the economy.”

The International Energy Agency has delivered a stark message to the energy industry in its 2009 World Energy Outlook—stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide, or the climate change impacts will be severe.

This message was included in an excerpt of the outlook released by the agency on Oct. 6, the first time a portion of the full report has been released early. The agency did so in order to provide their suggestions and data ahead of the negotiations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, taking place Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen.

“Energy, which accounts for two-thirds of today’s greenhouse-gas emissions, is at the heart of the problem—and so must form the core of the solution,” said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, in the excerpt’s foreword. “We need urgently to set in motion an energy and environmental revolution, to transform the way we use energy and to deliver a sustainable future.”