Average gasoline demand rose to 9.649 million barrels per day last week, while the national average retail price for gasoline remained unchanged at $2.74 per gallon, the survey showed.
During the U.S. summer driving season, which traditionally begins on the Memorial Day holiday weekend at the end of May, both gasoline demand and the average [image-nocss] price for the fuel typically increase.
U.S. gasoline demand rose 0.2% from the same period last year, the SpendingPulse report said.
"We saw a week-over-week increase due to [the run up to] July 4, but were nearly flat year over year," said John Gamel, director of economic analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.
Over the past four weeks, gasoline consumption in the world's top oil consumer fell by an average 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.
MasterCard Advisors estimates retail gasoline demand based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments system coupled with estimates for all other payment forms including cash and checks. MasterCard Advisors is a unit of MasterCard Inc., Purchase, N.Y.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.