Falling oil consumption is rare and, in the absence of recession, almost unprecedented. In fact, the United States has only experienced declining oil consumption without an accompanying recession once -- during a 12-month period from 1980 to 1981. In every other instance -- 1973, 1979, 1981, 1990, 2001, and 2008 -- a fall in oil use has gone hand in hand with recession. And, in each case but 2001, rising oil prices were implicated as a cause of the economic slowdown.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/03/05/the_petrostates_of_america