The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts that in 2021, U.S. consumption (as measured by product supplied) of total petroleum and other liquid fuels will average 20.71 million barrels per day (b/d), surpassing the 2007 pre-recession level. However, since the 2007—09 recession, the fastest-growing components of U.S. liquids consumption growth have not been fuels such as motor gasoline or distillate fuel but rather hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGLs) and ethanol—two components that are mostly or almost entirely produced outside of petroleum refineries. Petrochemical facilities consume HGLs as feedstocks in the growing production of plastics, resins, and other materials, and ethanol is blended with gasoline.
