Gasoline is the first product when boiling crude during distillation, and about 45% of a barrel of crude is gas, so unless the demand for gas is super high (which they'll boil crude down until it turns into gasoline) it's the easiest and most abundant fuel to produce from crude.
Cannot get diesel without taking the gasoline off the top first.
Looking at prices, consider inflation as well.
There was $2 gas 20 years ago. If that was okay then, then $3.50 gas should be good now.
Synthesis of heavy oils and fuels from light products is not a new process, and similarly cracking lighter fuels from heavy products isn't new either.
Modern, American refineries focus on gasoline because it's a larger, more profitable market versus diesel. If that paradigm shifted, nothing prevents them from deriving more diesel per barrel than they do now, at the cost of gasoline yields. For instance, European refineries have gasoline yields of about 20% versus American refineries yielding 40%.
Gasoline is the first product when boiling crude during distillation, and about 45% of a barrel of crude is gas, so unless the demand for gas is super high (which they'll boil crude down until it turns into gasoline) it's the easiest and most abundant fuel to produce from crude.
Cannot get diesel without taking the gasoline off the top first.
Looking at prices, consider inflation as well.
There was $2 gas 20 years ago. If that was okay then, then $3.50 gas should be good now.
There was $1 gas just 25 years ago, so I'm good with $2 now.
Average cost of gas in US in 2000 was $1.56
Av Oct 2025 $3.06
According to this it would be the same price after the index @ $2.98, so we're only 8 cents off
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
I may be off a year, but we definitely dollar gas in 1999.
Yep, we bought a new Suburban that year, can confirm $1 gas.
I'm sure, national avg wasn't the lowest price, it was the avg
Dont forget your thieving local tax collectors.
Synthesis of heavy oils and fuels from light products is not a new process, and similarly cracking lighter fuels from heavy products isn't new either.
Modern, American refineries focus on gasoline because it's a larger, more profitable market versus diesel. If that paradigm shifted, nothing prevents them from deriving more diesel per barrel than they do now, at the cost of gasoline yields. For instance, European refineries have gasoline yields of about 20% versus American refineries yielding 40%.