July 4th Weekend Travel Is Expected to Fuel Gas Sales

NEW YORK —  Americans are taking to the highways for summer vacation in a big way this year, with motorists expected to make nearly 13% more trips than last year over the July 4th holiday weekend.

The American Automobile Assn. has estimated that 22.5 million Americans will take a trip 100 miles or more from home by motor vehicle this weekend. An additional 2.5 million will travel by airplane, train or bus.

Trips by car, light truck and recreational vehicle are expected to rise 12.5%, the AAA said.

The surge in travel will mean more sales for the nation’s gas stations, extending a two-week surge in U.S. gasoline demand. Experts said the rise in consumption may be a sign that Americans will spend even more time on the road this summer than had been expected.

Independence Day is one of the top three travel holidays of the peak vacation season. The others are Memorial Day, which fell this year on May 27, and Labor Day, which falls on Sept. 2.

Last year, the July 4th holiday fell mid-week and made it more difficult for would-be travelers to take extended weekends, AAA said.

The motoring group said that since this year’s holiday falls on a Thursday, travelers can carve out a four-day weekend.

Gasoline industry experts were looking for a continued rise in demand. But in the week ended Friday, gasoline consumption softened slightly, interrupting back-to-back weeks of robust demand.

The American Petroleum Institute reported Tuesday that demand slipped to 7.3 million barrels a day from 7.8 million in the prior two weeks.

While the other recent gains in gasoline demand were attributed to movement of inventory from refinery storage to wholesale tanks, analysts say Americans now are driving more.