EIA now using near-real-time export data to improve weekly petroleum consumption data

Starting with today's release of the "Weekly Petroleum Status Report" (WPSR), EIA is now publishing weekly petroleum export and consumption estimates based on near-real-time export data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs). EIA previously relied on weekly export estimates based on monthly official export data published by the U.S. Census Bureau roughly six weeks following the end of each reporting month. More »

Coal consumption by U.S. educational institutions has declined by 64% since 2008

Coal consumption by educational institutions such as colleges and universities in the United States fell from 2 million short tons in 2008 to 700,000 short tons in 2015. Consumption declined in each of the 57 institutions that used coal in 2008, with 20 of these institutions no longer using coal at all. Many of these institutions participate in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Coal consumption has decreased as institutions switch from coal to natural gas or other fuels More »

District of Columbia raises renewable portfolio standard target to 50% by 2032

The District of Columbia (DC) increased and extended its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) target from 20% by 2020 to 50% by 2032. The target includes a separate solar-specific target of 5% by 2032, an increase and extension from 2.5% by 2023. More »

OPEC members' net oil export revenue in 2015 drops to lowest level since 2004

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) earned $404 billion in net oil export revenue in 2015, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. These earnings represent a 46% decline from $753 billion earned in 2014. Although these net export earnings include Iran's revenues, the net export revenue is not adjusted for possible price discounts that Iran may have offered its customers between late 2011 and January 2016, when nuclear-related sanctions targeting Iran's oil sales were in place. More »

Monthly U.S. renewable electricity generation in 2016 surpasses previous years

Renewable electricity generation has surpassed levels from previous years in every month so far this year, based on data through June. Both hydroelectric and nonhydroelectric renewables have contributed to this trend, but in different ways. After a lengthy West Coast drought, hydro generation has increased and is now closer to historical levels. Nonhydro renewable generation continues to increase year-over-year and has exceeded hydro generation in each month since February 2016. More »

As Japan and South Korea import less LNG, other Asian countries begin to import more

Japan, South Korea, and China are the three largest importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, accounting for over half of global LNG imports in 2015. More »

North Carolina has more PURPA-qualifying solar facilities than any other state

North Carolina surpassed states with more favorable solar resources to become the state with the second-highest amount of installed utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity owned by independent power producers in 2015, behind only California. More »

Future U.S. tight oil and shale gas production depends on resources, technology, markets

Based on projections in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's "Annual Energy Outlook 2016" (AEO2016), U.S. tight oil production is expected to reach 7.08 million barrels per day (b/d), and shale gas production is expected to reach 79 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2040. More »

Composition of trade influences goods output, shaping industrial sector energy intensity

Industrial sector energy intensity is heavily influenced by the composition of goods and services, which is based on both domestic and international demand. In EIA's "Annual Energy Outlook 2016" (AEO2016), industrial energy intensity is expected to decline by 15% from 2015 to 2040. More »

Crude oil disruptions in Nigeria increase as a result of militant attacks

Crude oil production disruptions in Nigeria reached 750,000 barrels per day (b/d) in May 2016, the highest level since at least January 2009. The increased disruptions come as militants continue to focus attacks on oil and natural gas infrastructure in the West African region. Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and was Africa's largest oil producer until Angola's oil production surpassed Nigeria's earlier this year. More »

Energy-related CO2 emissions from natural gas surpass coal as fuel use patterns change

Energy-associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from natural gas are expected to surpass those from coal for the first time since 1972. Even though natural gas is less carbon-intensive than coal, increases in natural gas consumption and decreases in coal consumption in the past decade have resulted in natural gas-related CO2 emissions surpassing those from coal. EIA's latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook" projects energy-related CO2 emissions from natural gas to be 10% greater than those from coal in 2016. More »

U.S. crude oil exports are increasing and reaching more destinations

The number of countries receiving exported U.S. crude oil has risen since the removal of restrictions on exporting U.S. crude oil in December 2015. U.S. crude oil exports have occurred despite relatively small price spreads between international crude oils and domestic crude oils, as well as other factors that should reduce crude oil exports, such as falling U.S. crude oil production and added cargo export costs. More »

Shale gas production drives world natural gas production growth

In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016) and Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016), natural gas production worldwide is projected to increase from 342 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015 to 554 Bcf/d by 2040. The largest component of this growth is natural gas production from shale resources, which grows from 42 Bcf/d in 2015 to 168 Bcf/d by 2040. Shale gas is expected to account for 30% of world natural gas production by the end of the forecast period. More »

World tight oil production to more than double from 2015 to 2040

World tight oil production is expected to more than double between 2015 and 2040, increasing from 4.98 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015 to 10.36 million b/d in 2040, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's "International Energy Outlook 2016" (IEO2016) and "Annual Energy Outlook 2016" (AEO2016). Most of the projected increase will come from the United States, with much of the rest coming from countries such as Russia, Canada, and Argentina that have significant tight oil resources and existing, developed oil industries. More »

Hydroelectric plants account for 80% of Brazil's electric generation capacity

Brazil generates the third-highest amount of electricity in the Americas, behind only the United States and Canada. Hydroelectricity provides 80% of Brazil's generation. During the Olympic Games, electricity demand in the host city of Rio de Janeiro has risen from an influx of tourists, athletes, and event staff. More »

U.S. ethanol plant capacity increases for third consecutive year

Fuel ethanol production capacity in the United States was nearly 15 billion gallons per year, or 973,000 barrels per day (b/d), at the beginning of 2016, according to EIA's most recent U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity report. Total capacity of operable ethanol plants increased by more than 500 million gallons per year in January 2016 compared with January 2015. More »

Southern California natural gas inventories nearly flat this injection season

During the summer, when storage operators are typically injecting natural gas into storage facilities to build up inventories before the winter months, natural gas inventories in Southern California have remained nearly flat. Underground natural gas storage wells at the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon facility, by far the largest storage field in the region, are undergoing testing, following a leak that was detected in late October 2015 and stopped in February 2016 More »

High natural gas-fired generation leads to rare summer net national weekly storage draw

Working natural gas storage inventories posted a rare summer net withdrawal of 6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending July 29, 2016, according to EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. Record-high consumption of natural gas for electric power generation drove this withdrawal. Although withdrawals in the summer are not unprecedented, and happen regularly in the South Central storage region, the last time a net withdrawal in July occurred on a national basis was in summer 2006. More »

Oil and natural gas production jobs in May were 26% lower than in October 2014

Despite increases in crude oil prices since the start of the year, employment in oil and natural gas extraction and support activities continued declining from levels reached in the fall of 2014, just before the onset of falling oil prices. The total rig count (including both oil-directed and natural gas-directed rigs) has declined even more sharply, from nearly 1,800 rigs in the fall of 2014 to a weekly low of 404 rigs in May 2016. Crude oil production has also declined, but to a much lesser extent than either employment or rig counts, while natural gas production has leveled off. More »

Future natural gas plant liquids production depends on resources, market conditions

Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) accounted for 22% of total U.S. petroleum and other liquid fuels production in 2015. In EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) Reference case, increases in NGPL account for a significant share of total increases in petroleum and other liquid fuels production over 2015–40. More »

Crude-by-rail volumes to the East Coast are declining

Movements of crude oil by rail within the United States averaged 443,000 barrels per day (b/d) in the first five months of 2016, down 45% from the same period last year. Fewer shipments of crude oil by rail from the Midwest (PADD 2) to the East Coast (PADD 1) account for about half of the decline. Crude oil shipments by rail have generally decreased since last summer for several reasons, including narrowing price differences between domestic and imported crude oil, the opening of new crude oil pipelines, and declining domestic production in the Midwest and Gulf Coast onshore regions. More »

Renewables share of North America electricity mix expected to rise

Based on results from EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) Reference case and International Energy Outlook 2016, EIA projects that the North American share of energy generation from renewable and nuclear energy sources will grow from 38% in 2015 to 45% in 2025. This projection assumes the Clean Power Plan (CPP) is upheld and takes effect in the United States. A recent agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States established a goal of 50% of electricity generation from clean energy sources by 2025. More »

New EIA website spotlights key drivers of petroleum product prices

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the What Drives Petroleum Product Prices website that identifies and tracks several fundamental and financial market factors that influence spot and futures prices of gasoline and distillate, the two most consumed petroleum products in the United States. This website offers charts that highlight changes in consumption, production, inventories, and trade, mostly related to the U.S. domestic market along with some charts that include global indicators. More »