Price Elasticities of Demand for Motor Gasoline and Other Petroleum Products

Terry H. Morlan

ene 1981 · U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Assistant Administrator for Applied Analysis

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Research results for short-term and long-term petroleum elasticities are summarized, and existing Energy Information Administration (EIA) models of energy demand are used to develop estimates of price response for 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year intervals. In the short-run, elasticities reported for most petroleum products in most end-uses generally range from -.1 to -.4 although the numerous research estimates for gasoline demand elasticity are clustered in the more elastic range of -.1 to -.3. EIA models used in this analysis fall within these ranges and tend toward the higher (in absolute terms) end of the elasticity range. In transportation uses, for which most of the research has centered on gasoline, petroleum demand has been shown to be less responsive to price than the other sectors, with long-term gasoline estimates generally falling in the range of -.3 to -.9. In investigating the price sensitivity for periods up to 10 years using the EIA Demand Analysis System, petroleum product elasticities in all sectors are typically between -.4 and -.1. For automobile gasoline demand, the greatest proportion of the 10-year price response is manifested in increased cutbacks in travel. The model studies show that, given continued increases in the price of oil, the proportion of consumer budgets as well as industrial production costs allocated for petroleum products will increase; that petroleum prices will be volatile in instances of temporary oil shortages; and that market forces can achieve long-term conservation of petroleum, but at the cost of greater proportional increases in oil prices.