These graphs illustrate reformulated gasoline production, California Air Resources Board (CARB) diesel and their corresponding inventories for the four previous quarters. They are updated four times a year. If you have questions regarding these charts, please contact our Transportation Fuels Office at 916-654-4868. News Media please contract our Media and Public Communications Office at 916-654-4989.

Reformulated Gasoline Graphs

The red (or solid) line depicts the level of California reformulated gasoline production (and, in a separate graph, inventory stocks) from all gasoline-producing refineries based in California that report weekly data to the California Energy Commission. Specifically, California refineries report production (and inventories) of California reformulated blendstocks for oxygenate blending, termed CARBOB. The Energy Commission then factors in a six-percent ethanol-blending factor to estimate the final reformulated gasoline production (and inventory) level.

The blue shaded area denotes both the highest and the lowest level of production (or inventory) over the previous five years. It represents the seasonal trends in production and inventory.

Generally, if the red line is within the blue area, production or inventory can be said to be at normal seasonal levels. The red line may, at times, be above the five-year average due to increased refinery production. If the red line is below the five-year average, reasons may include prolonged refinery maintenance or physical supply constraints such as a pipeline closure.

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

During the first quarter of 2005, the highest level of production in over a year was achieved. Inventory levels rose with the increase in production. Scheduled maintenance caused production output to dip in the early part of April. California refineries produced more diesel fuel during the quarter which contributed to the drop in gasoline production. April ended the maintenance schedule with no unplanned outages for all California refineries. With nothing hindering all refineries, production and inventory levels have steadily risen the past few weeks.

CARB and EPA Diesel Graphs

The CARB and EPA diesel graph provides the same level of aggregation and detail as the reformulated gasoline charts. The blue (or solid) line represents the total level of diesel production (and inventory) by week for the past year. Please note that CARB diesel has been combined with EPA on-road diesel. This is done to track refinery capacity for overall diesel production. The yellow area denotes the highest and lowest production or inventory levels for the past five years.

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Diesel production presents a different series of events compared to that of reformulated gasoline production. For much of the past year, diesel production has been consistently at or above average historical levels while inventory levels have been consistently below average. This implies that demand has increased, preventing inventories from attaining average levels.

For the first quarter of 2005, diesel production was maintained at a high level in response to increased demand from the farming sector. The demand is evident with the decrease in stock levels despite the high rates of production. For April, diesel production consistently stayed at or above production highs of the past five years. This constant high output of diesel fuel kept inventory at a steady level due to robust demand.