Prices causing people to curb gasoline use - Exxon chief

Enlarge Photo A customer pumps gas at a Mobil gas station in Medford, Massachusetts April 30, 2008....

Thu, May 15 06:13 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The price of gasoline in the United States is at or near the level where people begin to curb their usage, Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive Rex Tillerson told NBC's "Today" program on Thursday.

"We're already seeing some demand slackening in gasoline demand in terms of miles driven," Tillerson said. "So I think we're very near, if we're not already at, the price where people clearly are altering their daily behavior."

He added, "They're making different choices, they're thinking about how they're using this gasoline, the energy that's available to them. And that's a good thing because that's about all that consumers can do, is find ways to be more efficient, economize their consumption."

Asked whether gasoline prices could fall dramatically if consumption drops considerably, Tillerson said that had happened in the past during previous price corrections.

"It could be gradual, it could be very dramatic," he said of such a drop. "And if you look back in the past history when we've had rapid run-ups in prices like we've had, oftentimes the corrections are fairly dramatic."

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