Retail gasoline sales down 50% since 2007

Department of Energy ^ | October 6, 2012 | Department of Energy

[tomkat]

I've always liked that poster !

But if she takes that shot, I wanna see the pic after she's been spun around and parked on her (obviously shapely ;-) fanny . . LOL

[Grams A]

a lot less people are doing a daily trek.”

Try driving from the suburbs into and around Houston, particularly from 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. Seems as if the whole world has moved here.

[imardmd1]

If gas sales are down 50%, then why are prices at records?

Come on! If you are serious, apply basic economics. When price goes up, demand goes down--not vice versa.

[Moonman62]

Not believeing this at all.

You shouldn't. I believe there is a good explanation in post #13.

[nascarnation]

I think the decline is because of changes in agricultural use — this last year because of the drought.

Ag uses relatively little gasoline, mostly diesel, even down to the pickup truck level of vehicles.

[AlphaOneAlpha]

“Seems as if the whole world has moved here.”
That’s what happens as a result of Texas being recognized as a great state in which to do business. Companies move there, deserting that list of Dem controlled states which are losing their jobs, companies and people.

[RegulatorCountry]

Come on! If you are serious, apply basic economics. When price goes up, demand goes down--not vice versa.

Vice versa would mean that when price goes down, demand goes up.

You disagree with this, lol? Demand has not supported the domestic retail price of gasoline for several years now. Every excuse in the world has been used to rationalize it.

Another basic economic truism would be that weak demand leads to a decline in price. Domestic demand for gasoline has proven not to be as inelastic as was supposed, therefore gasoline is not price inelastic, either, despite all the hot air expended upon the topic.

[nascarnation]

Demand has not supported the domestic retail price of gasoline for several years now

Isn't the building block of gasoline, crude oil, basically priced by world demand?

China is mfg 15 million cars a year now.

[Fitzy_888]

This all begs a question. If prices have doubled under Obama, while demand has been cut in half. What would be the gas prices with higher demand, a higher demand that would be associated with ‘some’ prosperity? It seems we are facing quite a head wind, no?

[Tailback]

You are leaving out 2 very important things.

1) The dollar has been devalued due to “quantitative easing” otherwise known as monetizing debt. The resulting inflation has been completely ignored by the MSM. Compare what you spent on basic groceries prior to 2007 (when the Dems took over the house and senate) compared to now.

2) Petroleum is a fungible commodity. Just because demand in the USA dropped, doesn’t mean demand dropped worldwide. China is busy creating a middle class, and they want cars.

[Zhang Fei]

Google "US total gasoline retail sales by refiners" and you'll find that your linked table/graph represents only about 10% of transactions. It appears from a quick review that this table - U.S. Total Gasoline All Sales/Deliveries by Prime Supplier gives the actual total.

You're the man. Thanks for looking into it. I believe that's the explanation. The DOE chart I put up was referred to me by a poster on Rantburg. I thought there was something that didn't add up, but couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what.

[Hot Tabasco]

I've always liked that poster ! But if she takes that shot, I wanna see the pic after she's been spun around

I don't mean to be critical but other than the obvious absence of ear and eye protection which were not issues when that poster was created, there is nothing wrong with the way she is positioned on that skeet range.

She is in what is called a "low gun" position (prior to the release of the clay) which is required in international skeet, rather than the typical fixed shoulder mount commonly used in the U.S. and in trap shooting......

Myself and most of my friends use the "low mount" position in both the skeet and sporting clays courses since that better simulates actual bird hunting gun positioning.....

[tomkat]

Well, not having made the assumption that she was at a skeet range, I stand corrected   ;-)

I was seeing it as 'you mean hold it like this ? and then pull back on this trigger thingy ?'     bang-spin-plop

LOL

[PapaBear3625]

That may explain the large number of gas stations along my town’s main street that have gone out of business in the last year or so.

[Hot Tabasco]

Thanks, I’m glad you didn’t take offense to my comment......

[tomkat]

Not’all . . Cheers !

[imardmd1]

Come on! If you are serious, apply basic economics. When price goes up, demand goes down--not vice versa. (imardmd1)

Vice versa would mean that when price goes down, demand goes up. (RegulatorCountry)

No. You do not understand vice versa. In the simple economic model, price sets the demand. Vice versa would mean demand sets the price, and that is not how things work, eh?

Anecdotally, if the price goes up, my range of travel is limited. I use less gasoline. When the price comes down, I feel freer to use my vehicle a little more.

The price of fuel may well determine what kind of vehicle one chooses to buy, depending on whether economy is a dominating factor. That certainly has governed the statistics of Europe and Japan re engine and auto size.

[thackney]

If these are U.S. retail gasoline sales numbers reported by refineries

Those are not total sales. That is a small portion of total sales, only counting finished motor gasoline sold direct from the refinery. Most refinery volumes are blending components for gasoline with a local blender making the final product for sale.

Total gasoline sales have only dipped a little from the peak of 9.6 million barrels per day in 2007, down to 9.0 million barrels per day peak this past summer.

Zoomed in for greater detail:

Data source:
U.S. Product Supplied of Finished Motor Gasoline
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MGFUPUS2&f=M

[Zhang Fei]

Thanks for the clarification and charts. I got the original link from someone else and thought it was a real head scratcher.

[thackney]

I forgot to answer the part concerning imports.

Net Gasoline imports are down, but the reporting is also broken into finished gasoline and gasoline blending components. To understand the market, you have to look at both together.

U.S. Net Imports of Finished Motor Gasoline
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MGFNTUS2&f=M

U.S. Net Imports of Gasoline Blending Components
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MBCNT_NUS-Z00_2&f=M

The latest data reported is from July. We exported 360 MBPD of finished gasoline but imported 603 MBPD of gasoline blending components. The net was an import of 243 thousands barrels per day of “gasoline”, which is less than 3% of our total gasoline use.