Americans have cut back on driving so much US is now a net exporter of refined fuels

"Americans are using so little gasoline that the U.S. has been a net exporter of refined fuels to other countries for the past nine weeks."...

• 9/1/11, "Gasoline close to record high before Labor Day," AP

"Gasoline is nearly the highest it's ever been for this time of year, just ahead of the Labor Day weekend....

Drivers will pay more for gasoline this Sept. 1 than in any other year except 2008, when pump prices hit an average of $3.686.

Retail gasoline prices are rising in the U.S. even though motorists are buying less. Analysts say they have been pushed higher by a steady rise in international gasoline demand. Americans may be using less, but drivers in developing nations are using more.

"It's all part of being in a global market," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

"Americans are using so little gasoline that the U.S. has been a net exporter of refined fuels to other countries for the past nine weeks...."You have to go back years and years," Kloza said. "I haven't found a time when we've been a net exporter for that many weeks.""...

• via Drudge

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