This Week In Petroleum |
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Released on May 14, 2008 Oil as a Primary Space Heating Fuel: Historical Trends
Factors contributing to the decrease in fuel oil use include both homebuilder and consumer preferences for alternatives. In the South and West Census Regions, more new housing has been built with heating systems that use other fuel types, particularly electricity. The increasing availability of fuels other than fuel oil also makes fuel substitution for existing systems possible. For example, in the Northeast Census Region, about 7.8 million more homes in 2005 than in 1990 were located in neighborhoods where natural gas is available, although not always used. In 2005, a total of 15.6 million homes had natural gas available in Northeast neighborhoods; of those, about 13.6 million used gas for any purpose. Two million who had access did not use gas at all, and about 200,000 used it only for uses other than space heating, such as cooking or water heating. This suggests a potential for more use of natural gas for space heating, but over the years, this residual has been consistently small and stable. The decline in fuel oil use is reflected in consumer choice, especially by homeowners in the Northeast. Since 1990, there have been 2 million more natural gas and 200,000 fewer fuel oil central warm-air furnace systems. During the same period, about 200,000 more Northeast households used natural gas in steam or hot water heating systems and 1.1 million fewer used fuel oil. Although fewer homes are using fuel oil, especially in the South, the Midwest, as well as the Northeast Census Regions, other factors are affecting overall consumption for space heating. Since 1990, there are more than 17 million new housing units in the U.S. About 13.7 million are single family homes which are larger and house fewer people than in 1990. These factors partially offset improvements in energy intensities per household, per capita and per square foot resulting from efficiency gains of new appliance standards. Each time a RECS survey has been conducted, about a third of the heating systems are consistently fewer than ten years old. U.S. Average Gasoline and Diesel Prices Surge to New Highs Registering the third largest one-week increase, the U.S. average price for diesel reached another new record of 433.1 cents per gallon, up by 18.2 cents this week and 155.8 cents higher than a year ago. The average price on the East Coast increased by 18.3 cents to 437.7 cents per gallon, 161.9 cents higher than a year ago. In the Midwest, the price surged by 19.7 cents (the largest increase of any region) to 429.8 cents per gallon. The average price in the Gulf Coast remained the lowest of any region, but still increased by 18.4 cents to 426.8 cents per gallon. The Rocky Mountain region had the smallest increase of any region, rising by 12 cents per gallon to 427.6 cents per gallon. On the West Coast, the average price jumped by 15.1 cents to hit 445.4 cents per gallon. In California, the average price swelled 16.5 cents to 454.7 cents per gallon. Propane Inventories Continue Strong Build Text from the previous editions of “This Week In Petroleum” is now accessible through a link at the top right-hand corner of this page. |
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