Oil's pull-back represents a (temporary) break for U.S. motorists

Just a short quarter ago -- three months -- the lingua franca in economics and financial circles was "decoupling" -- the argument that the global economy could grow, despite an economic slowdown in the United States.

Then the U.S. slowdown persisted, lower growth rates and projections in Europe Asia followed, and the commodity price correction ensued, led by the most vital of all commodities, crude oil.

Oil, which for the better part of four years knew only one direction -- up -- pulled back about $30, or more than 20%. (Oil closed Friday down $6.49 to $114.59 per barrel). And unlike previous mild dips, emerging market demand -- the "rest of the world" in the oil market -- was not enough to protect the oil bulls. U.S. oil demand did matter -- it had declined on a year-over-year basis for more than three months -- and is projected to drop 3.1% in 2008, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

What's more, the EIA expects U.S. oil consumption to drop another 2.3% in 2009, to 20.08 million barrels per day.

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