Stepping Off The Gas?

Sep 27th 2024:The Atlantic gasoline market is changing? It will surprise nobody that the United States is the largest consumer of gasoline in the world. It is not even close. In 2023, the U.S. consumed on average 8.8 Mb/d of gasoline. China is a distant second with 3.2 Mb/d, followed by Brazil with 1.0 Mb/d. The largest European consumer is Germany, with 466 Kb/d, ranking them 11th. As the world is transitioning towards electric cars for personal transportation, it is unlikely that America’s position as the top consumer will ever be challenged. The United States is not only the largest consumer of gasoline in the world, but it is also the largest exporter and importer of this refined product. This makes the U.S. the dominant player in the global gasoline trade and, consequently, a very important driver of product tanker demand, in particular in the Atlantic Basin. However, changes are afoot in this market, both on the demand and the supply side, which could have a dramatic impact on the product tanker market in the Atlantic.