California Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Reporting (CEC-A15) Results

The Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act (PIIRA) requires all retail transportation fueling stations in California to file a Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Report (CEC-A15) with the California Energy Commission (CEC). These stations report retail sales of gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels.

  • A15 sales data represents nearly 87 percent of total gasoline consumed in California.
  • A15 survey response totals will not reach 100 percent of estimated total consumption of gasoline from one year to the next due to various reasons.
    • Not all locations dispensing fuel to end-users are required to report sales to the CEC, estimated to be 5 to 8 percent of statewide totals.
    • Not all retail locations respond to the survey, estimated 2 to 5 percent of statewide volume.

Number of Retail Fuel Stations by Fuel – Survey Responses

Reporting YearGasolineDiesel5E851PropaneNatural Gas2Total Stations
Survey Responses*		Total Stations
Estimated
20107,7073,71536679427,9659,800
20118,0363,94242809488,3439,710
20127,7483,84751805328,03810,219
20137,0443,57959699467,29310,076
20146,3693,41656714296,59410,080
20157,2404,095815731397,51610,309
20168,4564,7901116511648,92410,481
20178,3534,8541273491428,87210,353
20188,2564,8731483811558,68410,266
20198,2694,9581813011218,71310,449
20208,6805,2242383231689,06310,862
20217,9974,9662873071648,43510,423
20228,1615,3053222451888,64110,742
20238,4355,5113682662048,94710,957
20248,6115,6324892131869,11711,084

Source: California Energy Commission
*Stations by fuel type will not equal total respondents due to stations often dispensing multiple fuel types.

Estimated Number of Gasoline Stations by county

 

Retail Sales Volumes – Survey Responses (Million Gallons)

Reporting YearGasolineDieselE851PropaneNatural Gas2
201012,2381,2852.0032.644.09
201112,6441,3463.8919.827.26
201212,2411,3275.1225.446.60
201311,4181,2617.3113.996.17
201410,2201,2264.9918.233.94
201512,0441,59211.9913.8341.19
201613,7871,74316.859.0945.16
201713,9361,71723.016.2445.61
201813,5781,60232.044.0437.82
201913,4731,55937.253.1617.57
202011,2621,56034.863.5141.1
202111,6181,61155.353.4646.87
202211,4951,84691.452.4952.97
202311,6852,01695.251.7485.65
202411,6811,904101.81.4461.17

Source: California Energy Commission

A15 Report Responses vs. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) (Million Gallons)

Reporting YearCEC-A15 Reported
Gasoline Volumes		% DifferencesCDTFA3
Gasoline
Taxable		CEC-A15
Reported Diesel
Volumes		CDTFA4 Taxable
Diesel Sales
201012,23817.6 %14,8611,2852,590
201112,64413.4 %14,6061,3462,622
201212,24112.7 %14,4861,3272,603
201311,39421.6 %14,5401,2612,740
201410,22030.4 %14,7011,2262,776
201512,04420.3 %15,1081,5922,825
201613,78711.0 %15,4921,7433,005
201713,93610.6 %15,5841,7173,124
201813,47512.9 %15,4711,6013,074
201913,47312.3%15,3651,5593,086
202011,26210.4%12,5721,5602,979
202111,61815.9%13,8181,6113,141
202211,49515.7%13,6401,8463,067
202311,68513.9%13,5762,0162,982
202411,68113.0%13,4231,9042,968

Source: California Energy Commission
Note: CDTFA tracks all gasoline and diesel sales in California for taxation purposes, but accounts for those sales at the finished fuel terminal level where taxation first occurs. Because of this, CDTFA gasoline and diesel sales have no regional dimension available. The CEC-A15 tracks fuel sales at the retail level, station by station, but since the current number of stations is constantly changing and the full station population is unknown, staff uses the total known CDTFA gasoline and diesel sales figures as a benchmark to achieve in data collection efforts. Differences in these two figures estimate the amount of sales underreported in CEC-A15 results.

Estimated Gasoline Sales by county

 

California Annual Retail Fuel Outlet Report Results (CEC-A15)

The following Excel file contains annual CEC-A15 results and analyses summarized in county level tables for station counts, gasoline sales, and diesel sales. Figures in the workbooks graphically display the gasoline sales and diesel sales tables.

A15 Survey Responses – Gasoline Sales (Million Gallons) By Municipality

The following Excel file is the total aggregated sales volume of gasoline at retail locations that completed the A15 survey by municipality and by year.

Data does not represent total consumption of gasoline in a municipality due to:

  • Missing sales volumes from non-retail locations not required to respond to the A15.
  • Missing sales volumes from retail locations that did not respond to the A15 survey during a particular year.

A15 Top 30 Cities - Survey Responses Gasoline Sales (Million Gallons)

RankCity20142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
1LOS ANGELES462490578597553551439474452461452
2SAN DIEGO383430458478464455351345343352350
3SAN JOSE218287324319298311235263254221248
4SACRAMENTO174256279284264278249220230222233
5BAKERSFIELD169181221217205204195187200203207
6FRESNO108154185192176159158150162165164
7RIVERSIDE115127147148154143129134136140133
8LONG BEACH1251201301291271251021089196102
9CHULA VISTA7910311110811210586848396101
10STOCKTON809510910910210710092100110100
11CORONA1101111121221101138585859197
12ANAHEIM961151361351291219297949793
13SAN BERNARDINO7181869691878591849690
14FONTANA7578979491988291919187
15MODESTO7096103107102898085868785
16OAKLAND5173838986807062676780
17SAN FRANCISCO711071201201051077781857078
18ONTARIO76701109892847571756774
19SANTA ANA8181858483866672676973
20SANTA ROSA6070838375766672696671
21TORRANCE7584938484806367667071
22OXNARD6469728085816867686771
23ESCONDIDO6273777777817170676969
24HUNTINGTON BEACH6663747370676060606168
25VAN NUYS6558657572656064666468
26ROSEVILLE5572808478857076677666
27GARDEN GROVE5662777268645862636066
28SALINAS4373827374716370636666
29IRVINE7879848887856370636665
30FREMONT6477858776745557585463

Source: California Energy Commission

Methodology for Estimating Stations and Sales

Using a statistical resampling methodology, staff estimates the total gasoline station population by matching gasoline sales reported by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). This is done by using a subset of the CEC-A15 reporting stations to estimate the characteristics of the missing fueling station population. Since large fueling retailer chains are easier to survey due to their visibility, the resampling is weighted toward smaller retailers as it is assumed they are the primary non-responders to this report.

1 According to the Air Resources Board (ARB), E-85 dispensed, in California, averages 78 percent ethanol and 22 percent gasoline depending on the month of the year and geographical location.
2 Natural Gas survey responses are measured in Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE).
3 Source: California Energy Commission (CEC) analysis of California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) taxable gasoline figures.
4 Source: CDTFA taxable diesel figures which include taxable retail sales and taxable non-retail sales.
5 The California Energy Commission including all diesel blend, biodiesel, and renewable diesel as diesel product starting reporting year 2022.

Transportation Energy

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