U.S. gasoline demand slows for third week-MasterCard

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand last week slipped for the third week in a row amid a surge in retail prices, sending purchased volumes to the lowest level in more than six months, MasterCard Advisors said on Tuesday.

Motorists pumped 9.378 million barrels of gasoline per day on average in the week ended Nov. 2, down 1.4 percent from the previous week to the slowest pace since mid-April, according to the weekly SpendingPulse report. USMGD=ECI

"We've seen a significant deceleration in gasoline demand over the past several weeks," said Michael McNamara, vice president of MasterCard Advisors. "We're looking at an environment of higher prices and slower consumption. It's a pretty big coincidence if it is not linked."

U.S. retail gasoline prices rose last week by 9 cents to $2.91 a gallon, the highest level since late July, according to the SpendingPulse report.

Last week's retail gasoline demand was 3.0 percent lower than a year ago, while the four-week moving average was steady with a year ago at 9.548 million bpd.

MasterCard Advisors estimates retail gasoline demand based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments system coupled with estimates for all other payment forms. MasterCard Advisors is a unit of MasterCard Inc (MA.N).

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its report on nationwide fuel inventories Wednesday morning and energy analysts are anticipating the report will show a small increase in gasoline stockpiles. [EIA/S]

"A series of slowdowns in gasoline demand would tend to be a positive for stock builds," said McNamara. "It wouldn't be a surprise to us if we saw a stronger number tomorrow."

(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Marguerita Choy)