Types of Fuel Used in the USA
Being human, we consume a variety of things. These things act as fuel for our bodies and provide us with energy. Some of these things give us less energy, while others offer more. Like humans, vehicles need fuel to energize themselves. There are different types of fuels, and vehicles use them distinctively, according to their engine type. Generally, you will find the following types of fuel available in the USA:
Gasoline
Gasoline has been the standard fuel for cars since the invention of the internal combustion engine in 1885. It has different octane numbers depending on the quality and can be found in different grades, such as regular, midgrade, premium, or super-premium. Till now, most of the cars in the United States run on gasoline. According to a report, 134.83 billion gallons of gasoline were consumed in the United States in 2021 (1).
Diesel
In the United States, diesel fuel is generally used in commercial vehicles that have Diesel Engines. These engines typically produce more torque than gasoline engines. Still, they could be more efficient at converting this into horsepower because their combustion process has a lower temperature than gasoline engines. According to a report, the U.S. transport sector consumed 46.82 billion gallons of diesel in 2021 (2).
Electricity
Electric cars have been gaining massive popularity in the United States. Popularity can be gauged from the fact that 607,600 light electric vehicles were sold in the USA in 2021, approximately 83% more than the sales recorded in 2018 (3). According to Statista, market unit sales of electric vehicles are expected to reach 2,131.4K in 2027 (4). Being electric, these cars consume electricity as fuel. Therefore, many fuel brands have been installing charging booths at their gas stations for electric vehicles.
Automobile Fuel Brands in the U.S.
The first truly commercial oil refinery is said to be formed in 1850 by a Scottish chemist James Young who formed a partnership with geologist Edward William Binney. In successive years many new businesses were created in different parts of the world. Standard Oil Company, founded in 1865 by John D. Rockefeller, was the first and most profitable petroleum company in the USA. 90% of America’s refining capacity and a number of its gathering systems and pipelines, at that time, were being controlled by this company. Because of the company’s massive success, John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first oil baron (5).
The fuel demand is ever-increasing, which has given rise to several different brands. Following are some of the most popular and profitable automobile brands in the USA.
1. Shell
Shell is a British-Dutch-owned multinational oil and gas company. It was founded in 1907 after the merger of the Netherlands-based Company Royal Dutch and British-based Company Shell (6). The company has been doing business in the U.S. for over 100 years. Across 49 states, there are 13000 shell-branded fuel stations, and the company employs 12,100 plus individuals. Its headquarters are in Houston, Texas (7).
2. Chevron
Chevron is an American petroleum company and is the 4th largest oil company in the world (8).
It is the successor of Standard Oil Company, one of the world’s oldest and most prominent companies. Chevron has more than 8000 Chevron and Texaco retail stations across the United States (9). According to Statista, Chevron had employed 42,595 individuals in the U.S. (10).
3. Texaco
Texaco is one of the most recognized brands in the world. It is predominantly American and now part of the Chevron brand family (11). Previously, it was known as Texas Fuel Company and was founded in 1901 in Texas. In the history of the U.S., It became the first oil company to sell gasoline nationwide under one brand name in 1928. At that time, it was available in 48 states (12). Today, the Texaco star shines in 16 states of the U.S. (13).
4. Citgo
The U.S. previously owned Citgo; however, around 30 years ago, it was sold to Venezuela. Citgo Petroleum Corporation has its headquarters in Houston, and it currently employs 3700 individuals (14). There are more than 4000 Citgo gas stations in the United States.
5. Sunoco
Sunoco is the successor of Keystone Gas Company which was founded in 1881. It is an American company that sells gasoline under the Sunoco brand in 17 states (15).
6. Valero
Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1980 in Houston. The company employs 10,000 people and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Valero is the largest independent petroleum refiner in the world, and it has 15 refineries in the US, Canada, and U.K. (16).
7. Love’s Travel Stops
It was founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma. It is present across 42 states and employs 38000 individuals. Besides, it has 600 stores nationwide (17).
8. Aloha
Aloha petroleum was founded in 1992. It mainly covers islands and is present in 52 locations. In 2010, Aloha acquired Shell Hawaii, which included 32 stations, five fuel distribution terminals and other assets (18).
9. Simonson Station Stores
It was established in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1933. Initially, it was lumber, hardware, and supply business, but later on, it added petroleum to its business. It operates 17 stores across North Dakota and Minnesota (19).
10. RaceTrack Petroleum
It was established in 1934 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is present across 560 locations and employs 10,200 individuals (20).
11. Buc-ee’s
Buc-ee’s began a gas station chain in 1982 from Texas. Most of Buc-ee’s gas stations are located in Texas, though Buc-ee’s is now expanding throughout the United States. There are about 43 Buc-ee’s in the U.S. (21).
Buc-ee’s founded the world’s biggest station in 2012 in New Braunfels, Texas. It is the largest convenience store in the world, covering 66,335 square feet, and has 120 fueling positions. Buc-ee’s gas stations provide diesel exhaust fluid and ethanol-free fuel (87, 90, 92, & 93 Octane).
Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip, founded in 1965 in Wisconsin, United States, is a chain of more than 475 convenience stores. The total number of locations served by Kwik Trip is more than 800. According to Statista, there were only 441 Kwik Trip gas stations in the U.S. in 2016. However, it reached 566 throughout the U.S. in 2019 (22).
Sheetz
It was founded in 1952 by Bob Sheetz. It is headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has approximately 670 convenience stores & gas stations serving only six states of the U.S. In 2012, the total revenue generated by Sheetz was $5.8B, and it will reach $11.7B in 2022 (23).
QuikTrip
QuikTrip, founded in 1958, is a convenience store & gas station. The headquarters of QuikTrip is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Statista details show that about 811 QuikTrip fuel stations were in the United States in 2019 (24). As per Quick Trip’s official site, there are about 962 locations in the United States, among which the majority of locations are in Texas (233), followed by Georgia (152), Missouri (132), Arizona (134) and others.
ARCO
Founded in 1966, Arco is headquartered in California, United States. Its parent organization was B.P. America Inc., but it became a part of Marathon Petroleum when B.P. sold its rights. The total number of Arco gas stations is 1567, wherein the majority of gas stations, 1073, are located in California, followed by Washington (152) and Nevada (87) (25).
Speedway
Speedway was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Ohio. According to the official, the United States has 3,900 Speedway gas stations. Ohio State has the majority of Speedway gas stations. The total number of gas stations in Ohio is 463, meaning that it is about 14% of all Speedway gas stations throughout the U.S. According to Statista, the average fuel price of Speedway per gallon was 2.64 US dollars in 2019 (26). In 2020, the total retail fuel sales of Speedway in the U.S. were 5.91 billion dollars (27).
Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil has been serving oil and gas to the U.S. since 1870. The company is headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is often considered one of the world’s leading petroleum & gas companies. It extracts, refines and petroleum along with petroleum-derived chemicals. Its primary competitors are Shell, BP, Sinopec and Saudi Aramco. According to Exxon Mobil officials, there are more than 10,000 fueling stations (28). Among them, most stations are available in Texas (1946), followed by Florida (997) and New York (775).
BP
BP is also considered one of the world’s largest oil & gas companies. It was founded in 1909 in London, United Kingdom. The company invested more than $115 billion in the U.S. from 2005 to 2018. In 2018, it became America’s largest oil and natural gas producer by producing 772,000 barrels of oil. In addition, it can process about 760,000 barrels of crude oil (29). There are approximately 6919 BP gas stations in the U.S. According to Statista, the company had a net loss of over $20 billion in 2020 and a net income of 7.6 billion in 2021 (30).
Quick Chek
Quick Chek has been providing top-notch shopping services since 1967. The company has 157 stores. Among them, 89 stores are entirely new and also sell fuel. Most states covered by Quick Chek are central & northern New Jersey, New York and Long Island. However, it was later acquired by Murphy USA in 2020. By 2020, the brand secured one of the top leading positions among the best gas stations in America (31).
Maverik Adventure’s First Stop
The company was founded in 1928 by Ruell Call with just two barrels of fuel in Afton, WY. Fast forward, the company now has more than 300 locations throughout 11 Western States of the USA (32).
Phillips 66
Phillips 66 started its journey in 2012 in the United States. It is a downstream part of the company, ConocoPhillips, to engage in the refining and advertising of petroleum products around the world through brand names Phillips 66, 76, and Jet (33). The headquarters of Phillips is located in Houston, Texas. Today, it markets gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel throughout 48 states. There are about 7550 outlets in these states. It generated about $111.5 billion in sales & operating revenues in 2021 (34). There are about 2506 Phillips gas stations in the USA.
76
Founded in 1932, 76 gas station is now a part of Phillips Company. In 2001, Phillips took charge of the Tosco Corporation, famous for 76-brand gasoline (33). There are about 2040 76 gas stations in the USA.
Conoco
Conoco merged with Phillips to create ConocoPhillips in 2002. In 2012, it was decided to split the company’s upstream and downstream portions. ConocoPhillips became the upstream portion, meant to explore and produce crude oil and natural gas. Like Phillips66, Conoco Phillips is also headquartered in Houston, Texas (33). There are about 1738 Conoco gas stations in the USA.
Murphy USA
Murphy USA has been providing fuel to the people of the USA since 1966. As per official sites, it serves more than 1700 locations in 27 states. In 2021, the total revenue generated by Murphy Oil Corporation was $2.8 billion (35).
Circle K
Started in 1951 in Texas, U.S., Circle K is one of the USA’s most famous and quality brands. About 14,800 Circle K stores in the US, Canada, Denmark, Norway & Eastern Europe (36). As of 2022, the total number of Circle K gas stations is 1843 throughout the United States.
Marathon Petroleum Company
Marathon Petroleum Company is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio and drives the nation’s largest refining systems. It was founded in 2009. As of 2021, the company generated more than $100 billion in revenue. According to the official website, there are 6147 MPC gas stations in the U.S. (37).
Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee started its journey in 1930 by opening a small general store in Beaconsfield, Iowa. It has over 285 stores across eight states and has 93,000+ employees. It is one of the most trusted brands in America. More than 1200 Hy-Vee fuel stations are in the United States (38).
Parker’s
It was founded in 1976 by Greg Parker. It was considered one of the most effective fuel brands in the USA in 2019. The headquarters of Parker’s are located in Georgia, United States. Georgia has about 11 convenience stores and gasoline stations (39).
Wawa
Wawa started its journey in 1803 as an iron foundry in N.J., United States. It now has 950 convenience stores, among which 750 offer gasoline across 7 states of the U.S. As per Statista, Wawa generated nearly $15 billion in revenue (40).
Travel’s Center of America
It was founded in 1972, and its headquarters are in Ohio, U.S. It owns and runs petroleum fueling stations across 42 states in the U.S. In the second quadrant of 2022, the total revenue generated by T.A. is $3.08B, including fuel revenue of $2.5B (41).
According to EIA GOV, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Colombia were the top five source regions of U.S. gross petroleum imports in 2021.
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