The Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs) are geographic aggregations of the 50 States and the District of Columbia into five districts:
The PADDs help users of EIA’s petroleum data assess regional petroleum product supplies.
During World War II the Petroleum Administration for War, established by an Executive order in 1942, used these five districts to ration gasoline. Although the Administration was abolished after the war in 1946, Congress passed the Defense Production Act of 1950, which created the Petroleum Administration for Defense and used the same five districts, only now called the Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts.
The PADDs also allow data users to analyze patterns of crude oil and petroleum product movements throughout the nation.
