PADD 5 · Hawaiʻi · The farthest market — everything arrives by sea
One mooring, one refinery, four islands to feed.
Crude in at one buoy, through the one Oʻahu refinery, by barge to every island — a third becomes jet fuel, and oil still keeps the lights on. All of it 2,400 miles from the mainland: the most isolated major population center on Earth.
2022fiscal year
Brent crude · refinery's benchmark
$— /bbl
annual average
pause to scrub the 12‑month curve
Hydro · EIA SEDS · statewide
— GWh
1960–2024
hover the curve to read a year
There is no pipeline or rail backstop the way the mainland has — the entire state’s crude enters through one buoy 1.5 miles offshore, and 65% of the electricity is still made by burning oil.
Framing draws on Julian Spector’s reporting on Hawaiʻi’s oil dependence for Canary Media.
Imported crude
Refined product — Oʻahu pipeline
Refined product — inter‑island barge (Jones Act)
Military fuel — DLA import to JBPHH
Renewable fuels (SAF / RD)
Ocean tanker — crude & product from the mainland
Terminal — island harbor (holds & distributes)
Refinery (distillation towers) — Kapolei
Flow color = fuel; node icon color = destination (jet, power, bunker, island…)
Utility-scale solar — bubble area = GWh generated that year
PV array — a working utility plant on that island
Rooftop cluster — size scales to that island’s real system count
Dashed ring + 0 — no utility solar on that island yet
Caption under each bubble = share of that island’s own utility (KIUC / HECO / MECO / HELCO). Rooftop is capacity, never added to the GWh.
Utility wind — bubble area = GWh generated that year
Turbine turning — a farm generating that year, drawn at its real site
Turbine dark, blades stopped — retired (Hawi after 2020)
A turbine appears the year its farm first generated — nothing is drawn before its time
CAPACITY tab = GWh ÷ (nameplate MW × 8,760); both figures real EIA
Run-of-river hydro — bubble area = GWh generated that year
Penstock, runner, tailrace — a powerhouse, not a dam
Amber value · “held” — EIA reported no record; previous year carried, never zeroed
Dashed ring + 0 — stopped, or never had hydro (Oʻahu never did)
No reservoirs in Hawaiʻi — these take what the mountain sends, which is why the line is jagged
SHARE tab is against each island’s own grid, not the state — 13% of Kauaʻi, 1% of the state
Geothermal — bubble area = GWh generated that year
Puna (PGV) — Ormat, 38 MW, flash + binary — the state’s only geothermal plant
Dashed ring + 0 — offline 2019–20, after the Kīlauea eruption overran it
Sited on the active East Rift Zone — the volcano that powers it is the one that shut it down
Reading the map. Ribbon width & particle density scale with annual volume (√ scaling, so small islands stay visible). Solid ribbons are Oʻahu pipelines; dashed ribbons are inter‑island barges. Hover any node for its fuel mix; toggle Vulnerability for supply‑fragility rings. Data status. Statewide demand is anchored to EIA Form EIA‑782C Prime Supplier annual sales (thousand gal/day): Total Gasoline (series C100050151), Kerosene‑Type Jet Fuel (C500050151), and No. 2 Distillate (C200050151), 2000–2021. EIA‑782C was discontinued after 2021 (“Release Date: 6/1/2022; Next Release Date: TBD”), so 2022–25 extends from EIA SEDS Tables CT1/F2 (jet 15,580 → 16,724 thousand bbl, 2022→2024P) and the DBEDT Data Book (Table 18.17). Withheld jet cells (2002–04, 2008–11) are filled on the SEDS shape but bracketed to the published series, avoiding SEDS’ 2005 naphtha‑jet reclassification and 2009–10 methodology breaks. The three series cover ≈73% of all‑products demand; power‑gen oil and other products ride that total. Island shares & fuel pies are calibrated to real ratios (statewide jet ≈36%, HNL ≈85–90% of state jet). Import source countries are era‑representative (HSEO Fuel Imports Dashboard / EIA): a 2010‑style Russia‑Indonesia‑Saudi crude slate before ~2016, shifting to the 2025 Argentina‑Libya‑Alaska‑Nigeria slate; imported product moves from a Japan/Korea split to ≈90% South Korea. Brent tracks real annual averages; monthly points are illustrative. Sources. EIA Form EIA‑782C, Prime Supplier Report (eia.gov/petroleum/marketing/prime); EIA State Energy Data System, Tables CT1 & F2 (Hawaii); Hawaiʻi State Energy Office / DBEDT, Energy Data & Trends and Data Book 18.17; Par Pacific filings; EIA Brent spot.