The Relationship Between Refined Product Imports and Refined Product Prices in the United States

Since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emerged in the early 1970s as a dominating force in the world petroleum market, much effort has been devoted to investigating the relationship between U.S. demand for crude oil imports, the world price of crude oil, and the domestic price of crude oil.' Little attention has been paid, however, to the role of refined product imports in the U.S. market. My purpose is to fill this gap through an empirical investigation of the "competitiveness" of refined product imports in the domestic market. The focus will be on the motor gasoline, residual fuel oil, middle distillates, and jet fuel markets, as these four products account for most domestic product consumption.