(Bloomberg – Gasoline Demand Destruction is taking place in areas of the US with the highest pump prices. 

“In terms of demand destruction…we’re starting to see some erosion in volume in the low single-digits,” said Darren Rebelez, chief executive officer of fuel distributor Casey’s General Stores Inc. in a conference call on Wednesday. 

Casey’s, which operates mainly in the Midwest, sees a wide gap between the Chicago area, where prices are approaching $6 a gallon and the other end of the spectrum where gasoline costs nearly $2 a gallon less, Rebelez says. 

Paul Sankey, the founder and CEO of Sankey Research, stated that demand continues to grow in areas with prices still within the $4 range. “Demand strength has been a huge feature of why prices are so high,” he said.

Due to rising prices, US Energy (NASDAQ) Information Administration lowered their forecasts for gasoline consumption in the third and fourth quarters of the year. Still, demand rose to highest it’s been so far this year last week, the agency said.

Six-dollar gasoline, however, is “uncharted waters,” Rebelez said.

Autoclub AAA reports that regular gasoline prices in Chicago rose to $6.048/gallon overnight, which is an all-time high. Nationally, the average price is just pennies below $5.

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