GASOLINE -- A PETROLEUM PRODUCT

How is Gasoline Produced?

Gasoline is a nonrenewable fuel made from petroleum. Refineries in the U.S. can only produce about 20 gallons of gasoline from every 42-gallon barrel of crude oil that is refined. The rest of the barrel gets turned into other petroleum products like diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, and propane.

Gasoline is used in most U.S. passenger vehicles with internal combustion engines. Americans use about 385 million gallons of gasoline every day. With about 299 million people in the U.S., that equals more than a gallon of gasoline every day for each man, woman, and child. The U.S. does not produce enough crude oil to make all of the gasoline used by American motorists. Only about 34 percent of the crude oil used by U.S. refineries is produced in the U.S. and the rest is imported from other countries.

What is the History of Gasoline?

Edwin Drake dug the first oil well in 1859 and distilled the petroleum to produce kerosene for lighting. He had no use for the gasoline or other products, so he discarded them. It wasn't until 1892 with the invention of the automobile that gasoline was recognized as a valuable fuel. By 1920, there were nine million vehicles on the road powered by gasoline and service stations were popping up everywhere.

By the 1950s, cars were becoming bigger and faster. Octane levels increased and so did lead levels; lead was added to gasoline to improve engine performance. Unleaded gasoline was introduced in the 1970s, when the health problems from lead became apparent. In the U.S., leaded gasoline was completely phased out in the 1980s, but it is still being used in some parts of the world.

How is Gasoline Used?

Today, gasoline is the fuel used by most of the passenger vehicles in the U.S. There are about 234 million vehicles that use gasoline to travel almost 12,000 miles per year. There are 164,292 fueling stations that provide convenient refueling for consumers. Most Americans consider gasoline the most sensible fuel for today, even if it is not an ideal fuel. More than 60 percent of fuel used for transportation is in the form of gasoline.

Each gasoline station usually sells several grades of gasoline: premium, midgrade, and regular. These grades have different "octane ratings" that reflect anti-knock properties. In addition to these different grades of fuel, gasoline sold by a single company may differ depending on location or season. Some areas of the country are required to use special gasolines that reduce the amount of pollution coming from cars.

Consumers worry about the price of gasoline. The main factor that goes into the price of gasoline is the cost of the crude oil that it is made from. In recent years, the world's appetite for gasoline and diesel fuel grew so fast that suppliers of these fuels had a difficult time keeping up with demand. This is a key reason that prices of both crude oil and gasoline reached record levels in 2008. By the fall of 2008, high gasoline prices had encouraged people to cut back on driving and prices began to fall.

How Does Gasoline Impact the Environment?

When gasoline is used, carbon dioxide is produced. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is linked with global climate change. The use of gasoline also gives off pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons - that help form air pollution. Since the 1960s, stricter environmental standards have led to gasolines and vehicle designs that have reduced vehicle exhaust emissions by 95 percent. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require that reformulated gasolines be used in areas of the country that do not meet air quality standards, to reduce emissions and improve air quality. Some states also require the use of specially blended gasolines to help control pollution. In the next few years, gasoline across the country will become even more clean-burning because a new law will require a dramatic reduction in the amount of sulfur allowed in gasoline.

Even with reductions in emissions, the impact of gasoline on the environment is immense, because there are so many vehicles in the United States driving so many miles. This is one reason that law makers are trying to encourage the use of alternative fuels such as propane, compressed natural gas, ethanol, and biodiesel.

Gasoline has to be transported very carefully because it is highly flammable and toxic. In the summer of 2006, environmental concerns led refiners to voluntarily switch to ethanol as an ingredient in cleaner burning reformulated gasoline instead of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Many states had already banned the use of MTBE in gasoline to protect drinking water supplies, after MTBE was found in groundwater in areas where gasoline had leaked from storage tanks.

Last Revised: April 2008
Sources: National Energy Education Development Project, Alternative Fuels: What Car Will You Drive?, 2004-2005,
Energy Information Administration, Petroluem Supply Monthly , December 2007, February 2008,
Energy Information Administration, Petroluem Marketing Annual 2005, August 2006,
Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, January 2007,
U.S. Department of Energy, Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 25, May 2006.