U.S. gasoline demand up on holiday: MasterCard

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand rose last week due to the Easter holiday, despite record-high gasoline prices for the second week in a row, MasterCard Advisors said Tuesday.

"You get a little pumping going into Easter," said Michael McNamara, vice president of MasterCard Advisors. "You tend to expect week-to-week increases this time of year anyway."

American motorists pumped an average of 9.299 million barrels per day in the week that ended March 21, 1.2 percent more than they had the previous week.

Average gasoline prices increased two cents to $3.28 per gallon, up 27.6 percent over the comparable week in 2007, making it the sixth consecutive week that prices have increased, according to the report.

Average gasoline demand shot up 5.3 percent compared to the same week last year, reflecting the impact of a 2007 winter storm in the New England and Central Atlantic regions that slashed demand.

"It's a one-week phenomenon that just coincided with the St. Patrick's Day storm of 2007," said McNamara. "Looking over the next two weeks, I would expect the year-over-year (gasoline demand) comparisons to snap back to flat to down as we get rid of this storm anomaly."

The four-week moving average, which is generally more indicative of long-term trends, was 0.3 percent lower compared to the same period last year.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its report on nationwide fuel inventories on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of industry analysts showed they expect gasoline stocks to fall for the second week in a row as a combination of lower imports and refinery glitches drive supplies down.

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.

(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Christian Wiessner)