I have some anecdotal evidence demand is in decline in my neck of the woods. My mate's father is a truck driver. He tells me traffic is very light. He has judged how well the economy is doing very accurately by this in the past. I have a friend in Maryland who drives up here every summer. He told me this summer he saw the lightest traffic in many years. But this is Maine, a poor state, and may not reflect what is going on in a place like NJ.

I suspect that is due to fuel switching. Being from India I know that it is highly likely. Alsdo when the bombay platform caught fire inventories were drawn down upon which werent replaced. I dont think BP has the first damn clue how to account for this. With India GDP growing at 8% and population at 2-2.5% there is no way consumption can decrease. That would imply an increase in energy efficiency of over 12% in a year. Well if thats possible then we are all wasting our time at the oil drum.