Fact #560: March 2, 2009 The Transportation Petroleum Gap

In 1989 the transportation sector petroleum consumption surpassed U.S. petroleum production for the first time, creating a gap that must be met with imports of petroleum. By the year 2030, transportation petroleum consumption is expected to grow to nearly 17 million barrels per day; at that time, the gap between U.S. production and transportation consumption will be 3.7 million barrels per day.

U.S. Petroleum Production and Consumption, 1970-2030

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Note: The U.S. Production has two lines after 2005. The solid line is conventional sources of petroleum. The dashed line adds in other inputs -- ethanol, liquids from coal, and liquids from biomass. The sharp increase in values between 2006 and 2007 are caused by the data change from historical to projected values.

Supporting Information

**Historical and Future U.S. Petroleum Production and Transportation Petroleum Use (Million barrels per day)**
Year	Autos	Light Trucks	Medium & Heavy Trucks	Total Highway	Air	Water	Off-Highway	Rail	Pipeline	Total Transportation	U.S. Petroleum Production with Other Inputs 2007-on (dotted line)	U.S. Petroleum Production without Other Inputs 2007-on
1970	4.008	0.727	0.794	5.530	0.617	0.397	0.347	0.262	0.468	7.621	11.656	11.656
1971	4.220	0.796	0.825	5.841	0.616	0.369	0.339	0.263	0.478	7.906	11.537	11.537
1972	4.495	0.894	0.899	6.288	0.621	0.376	0.331	0.274	0.490	8.380	11.605	11.605
1973	4.635	0.993	0.986	6.614	0.650	0.425	0.338	0.284	0.471	8.783	11.399	11.399
1974	4.401	0.983	0.987	6.371	0.592	0.417	0.314	0.286	0.441	8.422	10.942	10.942
1975	4.399	1.126	1.005	6.529	0.602	0.440	0.316	0.258	0.397	8.541	10.467	10.467
1976	4.648	1.229	1.062	6.939	0.630	0.513	0.327	0.268	0.379	9.057	10.241	10.241
1977	4.697	1.321	1.172	7.190	0.638	0.558	0.323	0.273	0.371	9.352	10.387	10.387
1978	4.795	1.426	1.298	7.520	0.672	0.655	0.310	0.271	0.370	9.798	10.771	10.771
1979	4.559	1.443	1.342	7.344	0.703	0.757	0.316	0.279	0.406	9.804	10.662	10.662
1980	4.169	1.405	1.336	6.910	0.677	0.659	0.317	0.271	0.423	9.258	10.797	10.797
1981	4.119	1.400	1.355	6.874	0.686	0.760	0.305	0.259	0.427	9.310	10.688	10.688
1982	4.109	1.340	1.350	6.799	0.683	0.634	0.283	0.222	0.404	9.023	10.729	10.729
1983	4.168	1.412	1.380	6.960	0.680	0.586	0.278	0.220	0.350	9.073	10.734	10.734
1984	4.185	1.510	1.426	7.121	0.760	0.602	0.337	0.245	0.369	9.434	11.092	11.092
1985	4.230	1.612	1.435	7.277	0.792	0.601	0.350	0.229	0.357	9.606	11.138	11.138
1986	4.327	1.714	1.473	7.514	0.861	0.598	0.352	0.224	0.347	9.897	10.847	10.847
1987	4.337	1.804	1.523	7.664	0.897	0.609	0.356	0.229	0.365	10.120	10.583	10.583
1988	4.338	1.926	1.553	7.816	0.934	0.616	0.357	0.235	0.413	10.371	10.448	10.448
1989	4.373	1.963	1.591	7.927	0.936	0.632	0.342	0.236	0.420	10.494	9.820	9.820
1990	4.115	2.102	1.654	7.871	0.981	0.683	0.357	0.232	0.436	10.560	9.597	9.597
1991	3.803	2.255	1.691	7.749	0.916	0.721	0.365	0.219	0.406	10.375	9.791	9.791
1992	3.870	2.417	1.725	8.012	0.931	0.757	0.345	0.224	0.400	10.667	9.667	9.667
1993	3.964	2.530	1.776	8.270	0.938	0.680	0.300	0.231	0.418	10.838	9.349	9.349
1994	4.013	2.605	1.871	8.489	0.978	0.659	0.309	0.255	0.449	11.140	9.156	9.156
1995	4.022	2.690	1.947	8.658	1.011	0.694	0.316	0.264	0.457	11.400	9.096	9.096
1996	4.090	2.795	1.999	8.883	1.042	0.667	0.323	0.270	0.462	11.647	9.157	9.157
1997	4.126	2.913	2.021	9.060	1.086	0.591	0.337	0.271	0.483	11.828	9.118	9.118
1998	4.233	2.977	2.085	9.295	1.120	0.582	0.337	0.273	0.424	12.031	8.897	8.897
1999	4.327	3.118	2.286	9.731	1.167	0.647	0.320	0.283	0.429	12.577	8.617	8.617
2000	4.311	3.121	2.375	9.806	1.204	0.687	0.326	0.283	0.427	12.733	8.704	8.704
2001	4.339	3.154	2.366	9.859	1.139	0.561	0.348	0.284	0.419	12.610	8.573	8.573
2002	4.447	3.156	2.469	10.072	1.045	0.590	0.355	0.286	0.440	12.788	8.582	8.582
2003	4.383	3.567	2.401	10.351	1.047	0.508	0.364	0.291	0.401	12.963	8.374	8.374
2004	4.419	3.713	2.233	10.366	1.109	0.614	0.372	0.307	0.388	13.157	8.302	8.302
2005	4.536	3.446	2.496	10.478	1.170	0.647	0.376	0.310	0.398	13.379	7.885	7.885
2006	4.396	3.551	2.543	10.490	1.179	0.687	0.376	0.316	0.398	13.447	7.835	7.835
2007	4.335	4.736	2.591	11.662	1.312	0.677	0.392	0.300	0.436	14.780	8.589	7.846
2008	4.247	4.705	2.418	11.370	1.311	0.608	0.403	0.303	0.446	14.442	8.676	7.776
2009	4.180	4.710	2.375	11.265	1.259	0.590	0.415	0.291	0.448	14.268	9.081	8.172
2010	4.227	4.821	2.437	11.485	1.252	0.634	0.421	0.287	0.435	14.515	9.665	8.448
2011	4.271	4.902	2.554	11.727	1.191	0.682	0.425	0.293	0.440	14.759	9.773	8.458
2012	4.255	4.874	2.659	11.788	1.180	0.688	0.435	0.304	0.447	14.842	9.939	8.573
2013	4.247	4.817	2.726	11.790	1.205	0.691	0.445	0.311	0.445	14.886	10.036	8.568
2014	4.233	4.784	2.758	11.775	1.227	0.692	0.454	0.316	0.441	14.905	10.110	8.535
2015	4.240	4.737	2.787	11.764	1.245	0.693	0.454	0.319	0.441	14.916	10.173	8.522
2016	4.288	4.691	2.826	11.805	1.266	0.696	0.454	0.323	0.444	14.987	10.282	8.577
2017	4.340	4.634	2.859	11.833	1.282	0.699	0.462	0.327	0.447	15.049	10.476	8.733
2018	4.390	4.595	2.892	11.878	1.301	0.703	0.469	0.330	0.449	15.130	10.782	8.948
2019	4.459	4.511	2.906	11.875	1.337	0.705	0.478	0.334	0.446	15.175	10.896	9.064
2020	4.522	4.504	2.902	11.929	1.363	0.708	0.477	0.336	0.468	15.280	11.222	9.265
2021	4.588	4.499	2.921	12.008	1.388	0.711	0.475	0.336	0.490	15.409	11.546	9.407
2022	4.652	4.523	2.954	12.129	1.413	0.715	0.483	0.338	0.494	15.571	11.907	9.580
2023	4.723	4.486	2.995	12.204	1.440	0.719	0.491	0.341	0.490	15.685	12.203	9.789
2024	4.796	4.466	3.045	12.307	1.471	0.723	0.500	0.344	0.496	15.840	12.428	9.902
2025	4.870	4.462	3.094	12.426	1.504	0.726	0.499	0.347	0.497	16.000	12.674	10.034
2026	4.944	4.465	3.152	12.561	1.539	0.729	0.504	0.351	0.498	16.181	12.771	10.036
2027	5.016	4.469	3.217	12.702	1.574	0.731	0.509	0.355	0.497	16.368	12.862	10.010
2028	5.088	4.474	3.286	12.847	1.608	0.735	0.513	0.360	0.490	16.553	13.036	10.082
2029	5.130	4.459	3.360	12.949	1.643	0.738	0.518	0.365	0.489	16.703	13.162	10.136
2030	5.202	4.470	3.441	13.113	1.678	0.741	0.523	0.371	0.488	16.914	13.258	10.170
Sources: Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 27, and EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2009, December 2008.

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U.S. Petroleum Production and Consumption, 1970-2030 Image

Supporting Information

U.S. Petroleum Production and Consumption, 1970-2030

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