In its latest petroleum status report, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that gas demand increased by 336,000 b/d to 9.8 million b/d. This latest rate is 158,000 b/d higher than the first week of September 2018, which is surprising as demand generally slows post-Labor Day. EIA’s data also showed that total domestic gasoline stocks fell by 700,000 bbl to 228.9 million bbl last week. Although demand rebounded to a level seen during a typical summer, cheap crude prices have helped to keep the national average mostly steady this week and 27 cents cheaper than a year ago. Since Monday, the national average for regular unleaded gasoline has increased by a penny to $2.57.