Public Data on Gasoline Fuel Quality Properties

EPA’s gasoline standards programs address ground level ozone or “smog” and 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 through the most recent compliance year with available data. 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 data”. Right-click on the view of data and select “View chart” to go back to the visualization. For more information on the properties, see the list of definitions at the bottom of this page.

About the Data

Batch data properties are measured at refineries and import facilities. Starting in 2021, new regulations created the ability to account for downstream oxygenate added to conventional gasoline. For years 2020 and earlier, 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.
Gasoline batch reporting requirements underwent an update that went into effect starting in 2021. This update added one new property for reporting (oxygenate), but ended the ongoing reporting requirement for several other properties. The years for each parameter available are displayed alongside the parameter name in the drop-down box.
Total batch volumes in gallons will vary by parameter. 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. Volume totals differ for various reasons, such as a specific parameter reporting requirement applying only to certain batch designations or scenarios.
The data does 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”, 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.
Technical analysis of the Fuels Trends.

Definitions

Adjusted and unadjusted values – Refiners or importers must report “presumed values” when failing to comply with the sampling or testing requirements that must be reported. To show any impacts of these reports, “adjusted values” calculate the volume weighted average of batches after excluding presumed values (i.e., presumed value of sulfur is 339 ppm) while “unadjusted values” calculate the volume weighted average including for those reports containing presumed values.
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.
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.
Ethanol – An alcohol of the chemical formula C2H5OH.
Methanol – Any fuel sold for use in motor vehicles and engines and commonly known or commercially sold as methanol or MXX, where XX represents the percent methanol (CH3OH) by volume.
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.
Oxygenate – A liquid compound that consists of one or more oxygenated compounds. Examples include denatured fuel ethanol or isobutanol.
Pentane – An organic compound with the formula C5H12.
ppm – Parts per million.
psi – Pounds per square inch.
RFG – Reformulated Gasoline, meaning gasoline that is certified under §1090.1000(b) and that meets each of the standards and requirements in §1090.220.
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.
Summer CG – CG reported to EPA with a RVP standard of 7.8 psi maximum (V1), 9.0 psi maximum (V2) or Federal State Implementation Plan (SIP) (V4).
Summer RFG – Total summer RFG reported to EPA with a RVP standard of 9.0 psi maximum (V1), 7.8 psi maximum (V2), Federal State Implementation Plan (SIP) (V4), or 7.4 psi maximum (V5).
VWA – Volume weighted average.
Winter CG – CG reported to EPA with a RVP standard of “Not VOC controlled” (VN).
Winter RFG – Total winter RFG reported to EPA with a RVP standard of “Not VOC controlled” (VN).