GasBuddy expects recovery in fuel spending in U.S. after Covid caused $100 billion decline

GasBuddy expects recovery in fuel spending in U.S. after Covid caused $100 billion decline

An employee of a gas station adjusts gasoline pump prices as they continue to fall with the oil market in turmoil on April 21, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia.Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty ImagesU.S. spending on gas this year should see a modest recovery after a nearly $100 billion decline in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to fuel data company GasBuddy.GasBuddy is forecasting U.S. gasoline spending this year to rise to $325.6 billion, up 16.3% from $280 billion in 2020 – the lowest spending since at least 2004. That includes all gasoline supplied to the U.S. market for consumers and commercial customers."Americans pumped far fewer gallons last year than a normal year," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNBC. "Volumes for gasoline are nowhere near they usually are."Like nearly everything in 2020, Covid-19 upended the gasoline and oil industry. That included oil prices, which are linked to gasoline prices, following into negative territory for the first time ever as Covid-19 spread across the U.S. causing lockdowns last spring.The higher spending this year is expected to get a boost from a 27 cent-per-gallon average increase in gas prices nationally, according to GasBuddy, which collects data