Definitions, Sources and Explanatory Notes

 Category:   Petroleum Consumption/Sales
 Topic:   Sales of Fuel Oil and Kerosene: Residual Fuel Oil by End Use

  Definitions

Key Terms Definition
All Other Sales for all other energy-consuming sectors not included elsewhere.
Commercial An energy-consuming sector that consists of service-providing facilities and equipment of nonmanufacturing businesses; Federal, State, and local governments; and other private and public organizations, such as religious, social, or fraternal groups. The commercial sector includes institutional living quarters. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking and running a wide variety of other equipment.
Electric Utility An energy-consuming sector that consists of electricity only and combined heat and power (CHP) plants whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public -- i.e., NAICS 22 plants. Volumes directly imported and used by the electric power companies are included.
Industrial An energy-consuming sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used for producing, processing, or assembling goods. The industrial sector encompasses the following types of activity: manufacturing and mining. Overall energy use in this sector is largely for process heat and cooling and powering machinery, with lesser amounts used for facility heating, air conditioning, and lighting. Fossil fuels are also used as raw material inputs to manufactured products.
Military An energy-consuming sector that consists of the U.S. Armed Forces, Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), and all branches of the Department of Defense (DOD).
Oil Company An energy-consuming sector that consists of drilling companies, pipelines or other related oil companies not engaged in the selling of petroleum products. Includes fuel oil that was purchased or produced and used by company facilities for operation of drilling equipment, other field or refinery operations, and space heating at petroleum refineries, pipeline companies, and oil-drilling companies. Sales to other oil companies for field use are included, but sales for use as refinery charging stocks are excluded.
Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD): PADD 1 (East Coast):
   PADD 1A (New England): Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
   PADD 1B (Central Atlantic): Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania.
   PADD 1C (Lower Atlantic): Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia.
PADD 2 (Midwest): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin.
PADD 3 (Gulf Coast): Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas.
PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain): Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming.
PADD 5 (West Coast): Alaska (North Slope and Other Mainland), Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.
Residual Fuel Oils The topped crude of refinery operations, which includes No. 5 and No. 6 fuel oils, as defined in ASTM Specification D 396 and Federal Specification, VV-F-815C; Navy Special fuel oil as defined in Military Specification MIL-F-859E including Amendment 2 (NATO symbol F-77); and Bunker C fuel oil. Residual fuel oil is used for the production of electric power, space heating, vessel bunkering, and various industrial purposes.
United States The 50 States and the District of Columbia.
Vessel Bunkering An energy-consuming sector that consists of commercial or private boats, such as pleasure craft, fishing boats, tugboats, and ocean-going vessels, including vessels operated by oil companies. Excluded are volumes sold to the U.S. Armed Forces.

For definitions of related energy terms, refer to the EIA Energy Glossary.

  Sources

Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-821, "Annual Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales Report" ( Form/Instructions ,   Background, Survey Methodology and Statistical Details ).

  Explanatory Notes

  • Respondents to the EIA-821 survey were instructed to report all volumes in accordance with what the product was sold as, regardless of the actual specifications of that product. For example, if a No. 2 distillate was sold as a heating oil or fuel oil, the volume would be reported in the category "No. 2 Fuel Oil" even if the product conformed to the higher specification of a diesel fuel.
  • Beginning in 1985 the Railroad residual category was deleted, and the data was reported with "All Other" residual fuel oil.
  • Beginning in 2001 "Electric Power" has replaced "Electric Utility" to ensure that products sold to/used by both utility and nonutility power producers are included.
  • Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.
  • Due to updated program methodology and revised data, 2008 through 2011 Sales and Adjusted Sales numbers have been revised since they were first published. We have created an excel file Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales Data that shows the differences between the original and revised published data for your convenience.