The proportion of total hepatic energy utilized for bile formation and transport of taurocholate (TC) and conjugated sulfobromophthalein (cBSP) has not been defined previously. To study this question we have measured changes in oxygen consumption by the isolated perfused rat liver and freshly isolated hepatocytes occurring in response to TC and cBSP administration, cation substitution, and glucagon infusion. The basal rates of bile formation and oxygen consumption varied considerably among different livers, and there was little or no relationship between these two variables. Administration of either TC or cBSP to the perfused liver elicited a marked choleresis but failed to alter steady-state oxygen consumption even at maximal rates of TC or cBSP transport. Similarly, incubation of hepatocytes with TC or cBSP did not alter oxygen consumption. In contrast, inhibition of Na-K-ATPase by removal of sodium and/or potassium from the medium reduced oxygen consumption by perfused rat liver and isolated hepatocytes by 27-37%, and glucagon administration increased oxygen consumption in both systems by 31-40%. These findings indicate that the oxygen requirement for bile formation and even maximal rates of TC and cBSP transport is small compared with that for the metabolic changes induced by glucagon or for hepatic Na-K-ATPase activity. This is in contrast to other epithelial tissues, such as kidney and rectal gland, in which oxygen utilization for transepithelial solute and water transport constitutes a large fraction of both total and Na-K-ATPase-dependent oxygen consumption.