STRATEGIC US ENERGY MARKET INSIGHTS: A DATA-DRIVEN ANALYSIS OF U.S. FUEL CONSUMPTION, PRICING TRENDS, AND THE RISE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

This project explores the evolving landscape of the U.S. energy market with a focus on identifying strategic growth opportunities for Duncan Oil Company, a family-owned regional fuel distributor. Due to the company’s limited public data availability and its niche market presence, a comprehensive analysis based solely on internal metrics was not feasible. Consequently, the study relied heavily on publicly accessible datasets from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), spanning from 1983 through September 2024. These datasets, while extensive, presented challenges such as missing values, inconsistencies, and formatting issues, necessitating substantial data cleaning and transformation using MS Excel. The cleaned data were then analyzed using Python to extract sector-wise insights and to develop time-series forecasts for the years 2025 and 2026. Tableau was employed to create intuitive visualizations that supported the interpretation of energy consumption and pricing patterns across key sectors: residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation. Notably, the study observed a marked decline in gasoline and oil consumption, which, although evident in the data, could not be fully attributed to specific causes due to the lack of variables such as inflation rates, technological innovation, and energy efficiency metrics. This limitation reduced the granularity of the analysis regarding behavioral and macroeconomic drivers behind consumption changes. Despite this, the study provided critical findings such as the dominance of transportation in oil consumption, sectoral shifts due to the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and regional pricing trends that highlight both threats and opportunities for Duncan Oil. Overall, the analysis delivers a data-informed perspective on energy usage trends, enabling the development of actionable strategic recommendations. These include expanding into EV infrastructure, revising pricing strategies based on seasonal patterns, and targeting high-demand regions. While constrained by data access and granularity, the report offers valuable guidance for Duncan Oil’s strategic planning in a transitioning energy market.