Gasoline began its career as a leftover waste product from the refining of crude oil to get kerosene for lamps. A hundred years ago, refiners still burned most gasoline just to get rid of it. Today, things really haven’t changed that much, except that we now have the perception that gasoline is something precious. In a barrel of sweet crude, the gasoline content is on average about 51%, and that‘s a lot of waste to get rid of every day.

Demand for gasoline has dropped sharply in the last few years to the point where we export 117,000,000 gallons of gasoline and other fuels every day. Actually, this was the 2011 average, the surplus is still going up. In dollar value, this is now our largest manufactured export.

The news reports are saying that this is the first time since Harry Truman was President that we’ve exported more “fuel” than we imported. They are careful to say "fuel," even though we’ve always exported gasoline. Remember, over half of a barrel of crude oil is made up of  “waste” gasoline. Gasoline stocks currently on hand are also at a historical high.

Part of the fuel surplus comes from the decline of the economy, part from increased efficiency mandated for cars and trucks. Part of the surplus also comes from the new generation of efficient aircraft engines and the new, more efficient diesels used in trains and ships. We also produce a lot more oil in the United States and Canada than just a few years ago.

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