Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. motorists cut back on gasoline purchases during last week's Thanksgiving holiday as prices stayed above $3 a gallon, a report from MasterCard Inc. showed.

Consumers purchased an average 9.32 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Nov. 23, down 1.7 percent from the same week last year, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit- card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. It was the fifth consecutive week that demand at the pump dropped compared with a year earlier.

Demand compared with a week earlier was up 0.2 percent.

The national average pump price for regular gasoline fell 1 cent to $3.09 a gallon, the report showed. The price was 38 percent higher than a year earlier.

The report from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard, assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company's consulting arm, was based on credit card swipes and cash and check payments at about 140,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

The U.S. Energy Department estimated demand of 9.22 million barrels a day for the week ended Nov. 16, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier. MasterCard said demand was 9.29 million barrels a day for the same period. The government's next petroleum report is set for release tomorrow.

The Energy Department calculates demand through the amount of fuel drawn from refineries, terminals, pipelines, blenders and importers.

Visa Inc. is the biggest credit card company by transactions processed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Burke in New York at jburke29@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 27, 2007 14:01 EST