Division of Energy

Missouri’s Total Bill for Transportation

For your convenience we have this information in a printer friendly version.

Figure 1

Missouri's Total Expenditures for Transportation Fuels, 2009

Missouri’s transportation sector relies almost exclusively on petroleum fuels. In 2009, Missouri expenditures for energy use in the transportation sector totaled about $9.5 billion. About 97.1 percent of this total was spent for petroleum fuels, including about $6.9 billion for motor gasoline and $2.4 billion for diesel fuel.

Transportation is also the main end use for petroleum in Missouri and accounts for about 85.8 percent of the state’s total expenditures for petroleum.

As the pie chart indicates, three fuels, gasoline, diesel and jet and aviation fuel, account for Missouri’s transportation energy bill.

In 2009 Missouri ranked 12th among all states in expenditures for highway diesel fuel, 28th in expenditures for jet fuel and aviation fuel and 14th in expenditures for motor gasoline.

Per capita expenditures for gasoline for transportation in 2009 were $1,167, about 12.3 percent higher than the national average of $1,034 (See Figure 1). 

Per capita expenditures for diesel fuel in 2009 were 25.4 percent higher than the national average. The level of expenditures reflects Missouri’s central location with respect to national and regional trucking, barge and train routes. It should be recognized that these expenditures include sales to commercial transportation companies or independent truckers that are not necessarily based in Missouri. 

Figure 2

Figure 3

Changes in Missouri’s Total Expenditures for Transportation Fuels, 1989-2009 

Transportation sector expenditures for these three fuels – gasoline, diesel and aviation and jet fuel-- increased at an average compound annual growth rate of about 5.5 percent between 1989 and 2009 (see Figure 2).  

Since 1989, consumption grew slower than expenditures.  In 1989 Missourians consumed 429 trillion BTUs of these three fuels, compared to 535 trillion BTUs in 2009, an average compound annual growth rate of 1.1 percent.

Gasoline expenditures in Missouri grew at an annual average rate of 5.3 percent between 1989 and 2009, increasing from about $2.5 billion to $6.9 billion over the period. This rate of growth was somewhat slower than the U.S. average. As Figures 2 and 3 illustrate, the general patterns of growth in gasoline consumption, price and revenue that occurred in Missouri over the period closely mirrored those that occurred in the U.S. as a whole. 

Between 1989 and 2009 expenditures for diesel fuel increased in Missouri at an average annual rate of 6.7 percent. Expenditures for jet fuel in the state increased at an annual average rate of 1.7 percent while they decreased in the U.S. as a whole. As noted earlier, some of the expenditures included in the jet fuel and diesel fuel data were not necessarily expenditures by Missourians even though they took place within Missouri’s borders.

Figures 4 and 5 show a steep reduction in the growth rate in expenditures between 2008 and 2009.  As with other fuel expenditure data, this difference reflects the impact of recent economic conditions.

Figure 4

 

Figure 5

Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Consumption, 1989-2009 

Figures 6 and 7 show the trend lines for per-capita consumption (average gallons per capita) of gasoline and diesel fuel for Missouri and the United States.  Overall, per-capita expenditures on gasoline and diesel fuel track each other closely, although Missouri expenditures are consistently higher than the national average.  As seen in Figures 8 and 9, Missouri’s per-capita consumption of transportation fuels is also higher than the national average. 

Figure 6

Figure 10 shows the overall trend in gasoline and diesel fuel prices between 1999 and 2009 from the Missouri Energy Bulletin.  These figures show a general increase in per-gallon prices between 1999 and 2008, followed by a reduction in 2009.  In 2008, average diesel fuel prices reached $3.72 per gallon, while gasoline rose to an average price of $3.05 per gallon.  In 2009, average gasoline prices fell back to 2005 levels.  The other notable feature in Figure 10 is the divergence of diesel fuel and gasoline prices.  Diesel fuel prices increased at a higher rate than gasoline beginning in 2004, and remain higher than gasoline prices through 2009. 

Throughout the year, the Division of Energy surveys a sample of gasoline and diesel retailers around the state and reports price information in bimonthly Energy Bulletins.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10