Gasoline Price Changes - Federal Trade Commission

GASOLINE PRICE CHANGES:
Figure 4-4: Map of U.S. PADDs
Of course, these regions are geographically quite large. Different locations within a PADD, as
discussed above, may have different degrees of access to sources of gasoline supply. Also, while
these regions are useful for data collection, they may not represent a relevant geographic market
for antitrust purposes.
In 2003, the U.S. consumed about 3.3 trillion barrels of gasoline, up from roughly 2.5
trillion barrels in 1985. Regions of the U.S. differ significantly in how much of this gasoline
they consume. The EIA estimates total annual consumption of gasoline in each PADD by
adding the region’s refinery production of gasoline, “other” production, such as ethanol, MTBE,
and alkylates (typically a small amount), 33 imports of gasoline from outside the U.S., and
deliveries of gasoline from other PADDs. The EIA then subtracts the region’s exports of
gasoline to locations outside the U.S. and deliveries to other PADDs. This results in a number
that represents “product supplied” to each region and therefore approximates gasoline
consumption in that region. 34
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, JUNE 2005