U.S. Consumption by Sector

The use of petroleum products as vehicle fuels is classified as "transportation" use.  In the United States, in contrast to other regions of the world, about 2/3 of all oil use is for transportation. In most of the rest of the world, oil is more commonly used for space heating and power generation than for transportation. Gasoline, in turn, accounts for about 2/3 of the total oil used for transportation in the United States.  Other petroleum products commonly used for transportation include diesel fuel (used for trucks, buses, railroads, some vessels, and a few passenger autos), jet fuel, and residual fuel oil (used for tankers and other large vessels). 

In the years since the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973/74, transportation has become a more important component of oil demand, as price and policy encouraged the substitution where possible of other fuels for oil.  In non-transportation or "stationary" uses -- burning oil for space heating in buildings, such as homes, apartment buildings, stores, and schools, and burning oil for power to run factory equipment, or to generate electricity -- substitution of other energy sources for oil was possible, some of it immediately and some with the turnover of equipment.   In transportation uses, in contrast, there is little fuel substitution possible in the short term and only limited potential in the longer term, given current technology.   Consumption of oil in these stationary uses -- residential, commercial, industrial and electricity generation -- fell from a peak of 8.7 million barrels daily in 1978 (about 47 percent of total oil use) to a low of less than 6 million barrels per day in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  Consumption in these sectors has been 6.5-7.0 million barrels per day more recently. 

Thus, while oil continues to account for more than 95 percent of all the energy used for transportation in the United States, oil accounts for less than 20 percent of the energy consumed for other stationary uses.

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