EPA’s gasoline standards programs are designed to address ground level ozone or “smog” and to reduce toxic emissions from the fuel burned in cars and trucks.

Use the application below to learn more about gasoline fuel properties and how they have been trending over time due to both EPA standards and shifts in market dynamics. The results presented here are compiled from data reported to EPA by refiners and importers to verify compliance with EPA’s gasoline fuel quality standards. Data include certain chemical and physical properties of gasoline from 1999 – 2019. The fuel property data are reported to EPA for batches of gasoline produced at refineries or imported into the U.S. 

Create your own analysis by exploring the dataset in either the chart or the table below. Select the parameter (sulfur, benzene, RVP, etc.) of interest. To display annual averages for each property, right-click on the chart and select 'View Chart'. Right-click on the view of data and select View chart to go back to the visualization. For more information on any of the properties, see the list of definitions at the bottom of this webpage.

Export Table will export the data as a CSV file.

About the Data

• Batch data properties are measured at refineries and import facilities. CG properties do not fully account for the effect of blending with ethanol at terminals downstream of refineries and import facilities. RFG properties include the effect of all ethanol which is blended into RFG at terminals downstream of refineries and import facilities, because refiners and importers of RFG must account for downstream-blended ethanol in their reported gasoline property data.
• The volumes which appear for various properties are the volumes for which that property was actually reported for each batch (including property values of zero). Volumes will differ for different properties because some properties are not reported at all (i.e. left blank) for some batches. For example, in 2017, a sulfur content was reported for batches totaling 122.88 billion gallons of gasoline, but an ethanol content was reported for batches totaling only 92.76 billion gallons of gasoline.
• The data do not include gasoline exported outside the U.S., nor does it include gasoline sold in California (but does include gasoline produced in California, and sold for use in states other than California).
• This data also excludes gasoline reported to EPA that is categorized as “Gasoline Treated as Blendstock” (GTAB), or reported to EPA by independent third-party laboratories and oxygenate blenders, in order to prevent double-counting these gasoline volumes and properties.
• The reported data for a particular compliance period (month or year) corresponds to the batch production date reported by refiners and importers.
• Although these figures are calculated from data drawn from compliance reports submitted by refiners and importers, the figures here do not represent actual compliance information used to determine whether any specific regulatory party has satisfied their statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Learn more about the Gasoline standards: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/learn-about-gasoline
• Technical analysis of the Fuels Trends: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/fuels-registration-reporting-and-compliance-help/gasoline-properties-over-time

Definitions

• Aromatics – A class of hydrocarbons in gasoline containing at least a single benzene ring.
• Benzene – A specific unsaturated hydrocarbon (see olefin definition) containing six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms.
• CG – Conventional Gasoline, produced for sale in non-RFG areas.
• CG Summer Southern – Summer CG reported to EPA with a VOC code of 1 or V1.
• CG Summer Northern – Summer CG reported to EPA with a VOC code of 2 or V2.
• E200 – The volumetric percent of a gasoline sample which has boiled off when the sample is heated to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
• E300 – The volumetric percent of a gasoline sample which has boiled off when the sample is heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Olefins – A class of hydrocarbons which are unsaturated, meaning that a pair of hydrogen atoms on adjacent carbon atoms is missing, replaced by a double bond between those two carbon atoms. Olefins are much more chemically reactive than other hydrocarbons.
• ppm – Parts per million
• RFG – Reformulated Gasoline, produced for sale in RFG areas defined in 40 CFR 80.71.
• RFG Summer – Total summer RFG reported to EPA for use in RFG VOC Region 1 (see 40 CFR 80.71(a)), RFG VOC Region 2 (see 40 CFR 80.71(b)), or RFG Adjusted VOC in the Chicago/Milwaukee RFG areas (see 40 CFR 80.40(c)(3)) during the VOC control period.
• RFG Winter – Total winter RFG reported to EPA for use in RFG VOC Region 1 (see 40 CFR 80.71(a)), RFG VOC Region 2 (see 40 CFR 80.71(b)), or RFG Adjusted VOC in the Chicago/Milwaukee RFG areas (see 40 CFR 80.40(c)(3)) outside the VOC control period.
• RVP – Reid Vapor Pressure, a measure of the hydrocarbon vapor pressure in pounds per square inch above the gasoline sample when it is heated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Sulfur – A chemical element naturally occurring in crude oil and is present in gasoline which has an adverse effect on catalytic converters and other internal combustion engine aftertreatment devices.
• VWA – Volume weighted average