Gasoline Price

How the gasoline price has moved across key timeframes. Change is calculated from the opening price of each period to the current price.

Gasoline (RBOB, or Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending) is the primary transportation fuel in the United States and the most widely consumed refined petroleum product globally. RBOB futures on NYMEX serve as the benchmark for US wholesale gasoline pricing. Gasoline prices are highly visible to consumers and carry significant political and economic weight, making them among the most closely watched commodity prices in the world.

Gasoline was initially a waste byproduct of kerosene refining in the late 19th century. The rise of the automobile in the early 1900s transformed it into the most valuable fraction of crude oil. Leaded gasoline dominated for decades until environmental concerns led to its phase-out beginning in the 1970s. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 mandated reformulated gasoline (RFG) in high-pollution areas, leading to the creation of RBOB as the standard blendstock. NYMEX launched RBOB futures in 2006, replacing the earlier unleaded gasoline contract. Today, US gasoline consumption averages approximately 9 million barrels per day.

Gasoline is used almost exclusively as a transportation fuel for passenger vehicles, light trucks, motorcycles, and small engines (lawnmowers, boats, generators). The US consumes roughly 44% of its total petroleum supply as motor gasoline. Gasoline is blended at terminals with ethanol (typically 10%) and various additives before delivery to retail stations. Aviation gasoline (avgas) is a small niche product for piston-engine aircraft. Gasoline is also a feedstock in some petrochemical processes, though this use is minor.

US refineries process approximately 17 to 18 million barrels per day of crude oil, with gasoline as the highest-value output, typically 45 to 50% of refinery yield. The Gulf Coast (PADD 3) is the largest refining center, home to major complexes in Texas and Louisiana. Other key refining regions include the Midwest (PADD 2) and West Coast (PADD 5). Gasoline is also imported, primarily from European refineries. Seasonal refinery maintenance ('turnaround season') in spring and fall can temporarily reduce supply and affect prices.

RBOB gasoline futures trade on NYMEX (CME Group) and are quoted in USD per gallon. Retail pump prices add federal and state taxes, distribution costs, and retailer margins to the wholesale RBOB price. Key drivers include crude oil prices (the dominant input cost), refinery utilization and margins ('crack spread'), seasonal demand patterns (summer driving season lifts prices), refinery outages, RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure) specifications that differ by season and region, ethanol blending mandates, and weekly EIA inventory data. Hurricane disruptions to Gulf Coast refineries can cause sharp price spikes.

Investors can trade NYMEX RBOB gasoline futures (42,000 gallons per contract), gasoline ETFs (such as UGA, the United States Gasoline Fund), or options on RBOB futures. The crack spread (the margin between crude oil input and refined product output) is actively traded as a refining-margin proxy. Energy-sector ETFs and refining-focused equities (Valero, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66) offer correlated exposure. As with other commodity ETFs, futures-based gasoline products are subject to roll costs.