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Saying that there is an average amount of gasoline or diesel in a barrel of crude is like saying there is an average hp for a car engine. Sure, the "average" is 200 hp, but if you go by that average you tend to gloss over the fact that there are 425 hp Vettes and 75 hp Neons. In reality, all those cars are different.
So, if the API wants to say there is an average amount of whatever in a bbl of crude, they can do that, and it is just as valid as saying there is an average hp.
Besides which, those "average" numbers are also a bit misleading, in the fact that not every refinery makes every product. Some refineries don't make jet fuel, and what would have been jet becomes diesel instead. So that quoted average would then be 46% gasoline and 32% diesel.
And like I mentioned before, some of the heavy end of the gasoline can be dropped down and end up in the diesel pool, which changes the ratio further.
And then we have the cracking processes, such as cat crackers, cokers, hydrocrackers, which convert the gas oils to motor fuels (since not too many folks make "fuel oil" any more, and not too many refiners make much in the way of lubes either), and so on...
Not trying to be snotty, I'm just saying that you can't make a blanket statement about there being X amount of gasoline or diesel in a barrel of oil. There isn't an easy generalization, it's more complicated than that.
I will whole heartedly concur that more diesel vehicles on the road will cause the price price of diesel to rise!
John
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