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Acknowledgments US Department of Transportation - BTS

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Assuming for illustration purposes that 0.5 percent <strong>of</strong> production does not respond, and that EIA is 90percent accurate in covering the gap, then there is a possibility <strong>of</strong> a 0.05 percent error. Applying that to totalproduction <strong>of</strong> 8.29 mmbd in 1999 suggests that there could be an error <strong>of</strong> 0.0041 mmbd (4,100 barrels perday), which would not affect the published number.3. The most serious problem may be response error. A company may have poor data, perhaps as a result <strong>of</strong>imperfect measurements, or it may transmit the wrong number. EIA has no control over a company's dataquality. Companies have incentive to measure their inputs and products accurately. Otherwise, they may becheating themselves or risking ill will with their customers or suppliers. However, no instrumentation isperfectly accurate. The high throughput <strong>of</strong>, say, a refinery with capacity <strong>of</strong> several hundred thousand barrelsper day, with a variety <strong>of</strong> products changing density and some lost or used on site, is very complicated tomeasure. Instrumentation errors are likely to be systematic at any one site, although they will be more nearlyrandom in the aggregate for all facilities. There is potential for small but significant overall errors.Mistakes may be made in recording and transferring the data. EIA reviews the data and flags gross errors ormissing data for review by the respondent. However, not all errors will be picked up by EIA and/or therespondent. Overall, response errors probably are several times as large as nonresponse errors, but it isbeyond the scope <strong>of</strong> this pr<strong>of</strong>ile to estimate them.4. The final potential source <strong>of</strong> systematic error is in the clarity <strong>of</strong> the survey form, i.e., whether all respondentsinterpret it correctly. No doubt errors and ambiguities can creep into a form, but at least for petroleumsupply, that does not appear to be a major risk. The supply system is not changing rapidly, and EIA shouldbe able to keep with it and the terminology. However the final digit <strong>of</strong> EIA's published supply data isquestionable.For additional information on survey methodology and statistical reliability, the reader is referred to the EIA referencecited in the tables or the EIA Internet site at www.eia.doe.gov.FUEL AND ENERGY CONSUMPTIONTABLE 4-1. Overview <strong>of</strong> U.S. Petroleum Production, Imports, Exports, and ConsumptionTABLE 4-2. U.S. Consumption <strong>of</strong> Energy from Primary Sources by SectorTABLE 4-3. Domestic Demand for Refined Petroleum Products by SectorTABLE 4-4. U.S. Energy Consumption by the <strong>Transportation</strong> SectorTABLE 4-7. Domestic Demand for GasolinePetroleum consumption is far more complex to measure than supply. Instead <strong>of</strong> a few hundred companies at mostmeasuring points in the supply system, there are tens <strong>of</strong> millions <strong>of</strong> consumers. It would be impossible for any survey<strong>of</strong> individual consumers to produce the high rate <strong>of</strong> return <strong>of</strong> U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> Energy (DOE), Energy InformationAdministration's (EIA's) supply surveys. EIA's transportation data collection is further limited by the termination <strong>of</strong> theResidential <strong>Transportation</strong> Energy Consumption Survey (RTECS). Therefore, EIA uses surveys <strong>of</strong> sales <strong>of</strong> products(e.g., Form EIA-821:Annual Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales Report) or tax collection data from the U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>Transportation</strong>, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).EIA reviewed the accuracy <strong>of</strong> its energy consumption data in a 1990 monograph Energy Consumption by End-UseSector, a Comparison <strong>of</strong> Measures by Consumption and Supply Surveys. Unfortunately, this monograph does notdiscuss the transportation sector because the consumption and supply surveys were not comparable. However,some <strong>of</strong> the results from other sectors indicate the discrepancies between supply and consumption surveys. Table 4-2 shows the ratio <strong>of</strong> fuel supplied to the sector to consumption reported by the sector in consumption surveys.In most cases, supply is reported as substantially larger than consumption. Supplies <strong>of</strong> fuel oil to the commercialsector are reported at almost twice the level <strong>of</strong> consumption reported by that sector. Some <strong>of</strong> the discrepancies maybe due to definition differences (e.g., fuel oil for apartment buildings is included in commercial supply surveys but notin consumption surveys.) Overall, however, the differences are too large for great confidence in the accuracy <strong>of</strong> thedata.

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