12 October 2005

InTech News market chart: Heating oil, natural gas, and gasoline

Source: The Wall Street Journal

• China recently surpassed Japan as the No. 2 oil consumer behind the U.S. In 1994, there were 9.4 million vehicles on the road in China. In 2004, there were 28.6 million vehicles. In 2020, the Chinese government predicts, there will be 140 million.

• The Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) contains about 10.4 billion barrels of oil. Based on current rates of consumption, that is enough to meet U.S. energy demands for 1.4 years.

• The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is in the Gulf of Mexico, currently holds about 690 million barrels of oil, near its peak. That is down slightly because the U.S. government has tapped into it since Hurricane Katrina.

• A 10% increase in the price of gasoline could ultimately result in a drop in gasoline demand of 546,000 barrels of oil a day, based on a Federal Trade Commission report. The U.S. currently consumes 20 million barrels of oil a day.

• A 10-miles-per-gallon rise in the fuel economy of cars driven in the U.S. ultimately would cut petroleum consumption by 610,000 barrels of oil a day.

• The last year anyone built a refinery in the U.S. was 1976. Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma LLC's planned refinery in Yuma, Ariz., is the only U.S. refinery that has obtained most of the regulatory approvals needed for construction. It would have the capacity to produce 150,000 barrels of fuel every day.