The UK's fuel demand recovery has come to halt since early August, according to new official data, supporting a growing trend of stable or falling oil demand indicators in the European region as COVID-19 infection rates rise to near peak levels.
Road fuel sales in Europe's second-biggest economy edged up to 87% of pre-lockdown levels in the week ending Aug. 16, according to data released Aug. 20 by the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Average sales of gasoline and diesel in the week rose 1 percentage point on the previous week to 15,450 liters per fuel station, according to the data. UK fuel demand -- which in July had been bucking a broader regional trend of a slowing recovery -- is now largely unchanged after hitting a post-crisis high of 88% of pre-lockdown levels in the first week of August.
UK public transportation activity was flat last week at 54% of pre-COVID levels while flight activity moved up slightly to 26% of pre-COVID levels, according to investment bank Jefferies.
Driving activity in most of Europe's other top economies has failed to show any improvement since early-July, according to TomTom data.
Road congestion levels in Madrid and Rome dropped to 82% and 75% below year-ago levels in the week to Aug. 16, according to TomTom data, taking congestion back to levels not seen since the third and first weeks of May respectively. Road congestion levels also fell to more than two-month lows in Paris and Lisbon, the data shows.
In Berlin, however, congestion in the capital of Europe's biggest economy rose above year-ago levels for the first time since lockdowns were introduced in March, the data shows.
Road transport accounts for more than half of oil demand in the UK, with gasoline and diesel meeting around 98% of transport energy needs. Gasoline sales last year averaged 299,820 b/d and diesel sales averaged 546,770 b/d, according to estimates by S&P Global Platts Analytics.
