Retail gasoline demand sluggish on high prices

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand inched up slightly from the previous week, even as longer-term measures showed an overall weakening in demand, MasterCard Advisors said on Tuesday.

"We usually see uptick on a week-to-week basis this time of year. The compelling thing right now is that the uptick is so small," said Michael McNamara, vice president of MasterCard Advisors.

The rise in demand during the spring months leading up to the traditional start of the U.S. summer driving season on Memorial Day is typically much more substantial, but record gasoline prices have kept demand levels low, McNamara said.

Average retail prices for gasoline hit another record high, climbing 12 cents to $3.76 per gallon, according to the MasterCard report.

Gasoline prices have increased 70 cents since the beginning of 2008, according to the report.

Motorists pumped an average of 9.14 million barrels per day in the week that ended May 16, dropping 6.8 percent from the same week last year. The four-week average for gasoline demand fell 5.3 percent from last year.

Year-to-date, American consumers have pumped 1.4 percent less gasoline than they did last year, the report said.

Still, soaring gasoline prices have meant that gasoline makes up an increasing percentage of total retail sales in the United States.

Gasoline sales comprise 15 percent of total retail sales, compared to 11 percent in 2003.

A Reuters poll of energy analysts showed that they expect the Energy Information Administration to report that U.S. gasoline stocks increased slightly last week, in tandem with an uptick in refinery run, when it releases its report on nationwide fuel inventories on Wednesday.

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)