The US is the largest exporter of gasoline in the world

The United States exports more gasoline than any other nation in the world, providing more than 16 percent of all fuel exports globally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an analysis on Tuesday.

Last year, US motor gasoline exports (finished gasoline plus gasoline blending components) averaged 900,000 barrels per day (bpd). That’s equivalent to about 10 percent of domestic consumption and enough to fill the tanks of more than 1.5 million SUVs per day, assuming an average tank size of 24 gallons, the EIA noted.

Although China and India are increasing their refining capacity and have increased their exports, the US is the undisputed leader in gasoline exports.

Even major gasoline exporters such as Singapore and the Netherlands have never topped 700,000 bpd in gasoline exports, the US administration said.

The US has been a net exporter of gasoline since 2016. Between 1961 and 2015, America was a net importer of gasoline for more than half a century.

Over the past decade, the U.S. has become a net exporter of gasoline as U.S. exports of refined petroleum products surged, hitting records in both 2022 and 2023, the EIA said.

Higher refinery utilization and increased refining capacity were key factors in the increase in U.S. exports of petroleum products, including gasoline.

Even as U.S. refining capacity increased, domestic gasoline consumption did not, making more gasoline available for export, the EIA noted. US motor gasoline consumption in 2023 was flat compared to 2010 and 400,000 bpd lower than the 2018 peak.

Last year, U.S. exports of petroleum products averaged a record 6.1 million bpd, up 2.5 percent from 2022, EIA data showed earlier this year.

In 2020, the United States became a net exporter of oil for the first time since at least 1949.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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