Gasoline Price Changes - Federal Trade Commission

GASOLINE PRICE CHANGES:
Expenditures (Millions of Dollars)
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,000
$0
1990
Figure 3-10: Refinery Environmental Capital Expenditures (1990-2003)
1991
1992
Nominal
1993
1994
1995
Real (2004 Dollars)
1996
Sources: API, BEA
Note: API sends surveys to about 800 companies each year, including “all large and mid-size companies, plus a randomly selected group of
smaller companies.” In 1999, 65 companies completed the survey; see Table 5 of the API report for shares of these participants in various markets.
API then extrapolates the data to provide estimates for all domestic firms.
In addition, it costs more to produce cleaner gasoline than conventional gasoline. The
EPA estimates that the cost of producing a gallon of RFG is $0.04 to $0.08 more than the cost of
producing conventional gasoline. 56 Private estimates show a wider range, from $0.03 to $0.11
for Phase I RFG. 57
These additional costs made the countervailing cost savings that refineries found through
technological and other advances even more important in keeping the price of gasoline relatively
low during the 1990s.
58
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, JUNE 2005