U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Office

Fact #610: February 15, 2010
All Sectors' Petroleum Gap

Before 1989 the U.S. produced enough petroleum to meet the needs of the transportation sector, but was still short of meeting the petroleum needs of all the sectors, including industrial, residential and commercial, and electric utilities. In 1973 the gap between what the U.S. produced and what was consumed was 5.6 million barrels per day. By 2035, the gap is expected to be at least 10.8 million barrels per day if all sources of petroleum are included or 13.9 million barrels per day if only conventional petroleum sources are used.

U.S. Petroleum Production and Consumption, 1973-2035
Graph showing the gap between the U.S. petroleum production and the consumption in all sectors including transportation, industrial, residential and commercial, and electric utilities for the time period 1973 to 2035. For more detailed information, see the table below.

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 2008 and 2009 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 Transportation Industrial Residential and Commercial Electric Utilities Total U.S. Petroleum Production with Other Inputs 2007-on (dotted line) U.S. Petroleum Production without Other Inputs 2007-on
1973 8.78 4.48 2.23 1.54 17.04 11.40 11.40
1974 8.43 4.30 2.04 1.48 16.24 10.94 10.94
1975 8.55 4.04 1.95 1.39 15.92 10.47 10.47
1976 9.06 4.46 2.13 1.52 17.17 10.24 10.24
1977 9.36 4.82 2.14 1.71 18.03 10.39 10.39
1978 9.80 4.87 2.07 1.75 18.49 10.77 10.77
1979 9.60 5.34 1.73 1.44 18.11 10.66 10.66
1980 9.26 4.86 1.52 1.15 16.80 10.80 10.80
1981 9.16 4.27 1.33 0.96 15.73 10.69 10.69
1982 8.90 4.06 1.24 0.69 14.89 10.73 10.73
1983 8.95 3.85 1.29 0.68 14.78 10.73 10.73
1984 9.30 4.20 1.38 0.56 15.45 11.09 11.09
1985 9.42 4.07 1.34 0.48 15.31 11.14 11.14
1986 9.93 4.09 1.37 0.64 16.02 10.85 10.85
1987 10.17 4.21 1.40 0.55 16.33 10.58 10.58
1988 10.43 4.36 1.41 0.69 16.89 10.45 10.45
1989 10.59 4.25 1.39 0.75 16.97 9.82 9.82
1990 10.57 4.30 1.23 0.57 16.67 9.60 9.60
1991 10.38 4.22 1.21 0.53 16.33 9.79 9.79
1992 10.67 4.53 1.20 0.44 16.84 9.67 9.67
1993 10.84 4.44 1.18 0.49 16.96 9.35 9.35
1994 11.14 4.67 1.17 0.47 17.44 9.16 9.16
1995 11.40 4.59 1.13 0.33 17.46 9.10 9.10
1996 11.65 4.83 1.21 0.36 18.05 9.16 9.16
1997 11.83 4.95 1.16 0.41 18.35 9.12 9.12
1998 12.03 4.84 1.08 0.58 18.53 8.90 8.90
1999 12.58 5.03 1.18 0.53 19.33 8.62 8.62
2000 12.73 4.92 1.28 0.51 19.44 8.70 8.70
2001 12.61 4.89 1.25 0.56 19.32 8.57 8.57
2002 12.79 4.93 1.19 0.43 19.34 8.58 8.58
2003 12.96 4.90 1.28 0.53 19.67 8.37 8.37
2004 13.16 5.23 1.26 0.54 20.19 8.30 8.30
2005 13.38 5.10 1.20 0.55 20.22 7.88 7.88
2006 13.49 5.19 1.03 0.29 19.99 7.83 7.83
2007 13.60 5.05 1.04 0.29 19.99 7.84 7.84
2008 14.47 4.60 0.96 0.21 20.25 8.52 7.74
2009 14.02 4.398 0.98 0.207 19.60 8.99 8.03
2010 14.25 4.413 0.95 0.203 19.81 9.11 8.02
2011 14.54 4.612 0.94 0.206 20.29 9.41 8.24
2012 14.69 4.746 0.93 0.207 20.58 9.49 8.28
2013 14.76 4.776 0.92 0.202 20.66 9.75 8.45
2014 14.81 4.787 0.90 0.202 20.70 9.89 8.52
2015 14.86 4.819 0.89 0.204 20.77 10.00 8.58
2016 14.90 4.844 0.88 0.205 20.84 10.07 8.57
2017 15.00 4.862 0.87 0.205 20.94 10.23 8.67
2018 15.05 4.863 0.86 0.207 20.99 10.39 8.79
2019 15.18 4.887 0.86 0.208 21.13 10.60 8.96
2020 15.30 4.888 0.85 0.209 21.25 10.77 9.06
2021 15.41 4.870 0.85 0.211 21.34 10.89 9.10
2022 15.58 4.843 0.84 0.211 21.48 11.02 9.05
2023 15.70 4.830 0.84 0.212 21.58 10.96 8.98
2024 15.85 4.813 0.83 0.213 21.71 11.00 8.96
2025 15.98 4.810 0.83 0.213 21.83 11.15 9.04
2026 16.13 4.817 0.82 0.214 21.98 11.30 9.10
2027 16.28 4.796 0.82 0.214 22.11 11.48 9.18
2028 16.37 4.786 0.82 0.215 22.19 11.53 9.15
2029 16.49 4.766 0.81 0.215 22.28 11.63 9.17
2030 16.66 4.761 0.81 0.216 22.44 11.70 9.15
2031 16.81 4.748 0.80 0.217 22.58 11.81 9.12
2032 16.95 4.725 0.80 0.217 22.69 11.94 9.15
2033 17.14 4.706 0.80 0.218 22.86 12.20 9.30
2034 17.31 4.687 0.79 0.219 23.01 12.30 9.28
2035 17.50 4.670 0.79 0.219 23.17 12.34 9.23

Sources:
1973-2008 from Davis, S.C. and Diegel, S.W., "Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 28," Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 2009.
2009-2035 from EIA, 2008, "Annual Energy Outlook 2010," Energy Information Administration, DOE/EIA-0383(2010), U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, 2010.

 

Return to 2010 Facts of the Week