Liquid asphalt cement is one of the world’s oldest engineering materials. More than 100 million tons of asphalt are consumed worldwide each year. In the United States, approximately 90 percent of liquid asphalt cement is used for road paving. Sales of liquid asphalt paving products average nearly 30 million tons per year in the United States.

Liquid asphalt cement is a by-product of the crude oil distillation process. Liquid asphalt cement production represents only a small portion of the total crude oil refining process. It typically is sold by the refinery either directly into the wholesale and retail liquid asphalt cement markets or to a liquid asphalt cement marketer.

The asphalt industry in the United States is characterized by a high degree of seasonality. Refineries produce liquid asphalt cement year round, but the peak asphalt demand season is during the warm weather months when most of the road construction activity in the United States takes place. As a result, liquid asphalt cement prices can vary dramatically from the winter to summer months. Liquid asphalt cement marketers and finished asphalt product producers with access to extensive storage capacity such as that offered by SemGroup Energy Partners have the advantage of being able to purchase supply from refineries at low prices in the low demand winter months and then sell finished asphalt products at higher prices in the peak summer demand season.