Fort Calhoun becomes fifth U.S. nuclear plant to retire in past five years

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station, located near Omaha, Nebraska, shut down on Monday, October 24, after the Omaha Public Power District voted in June to retire the plant, citing economic reasons as the main cause. With a capacity of 478 megawatts (MW), Fort Calhoun was the smallest active nuclear power plant in the United States at the time of its retirement. More »

Offshore oil production in deepwater and ultra deepwater is increasing

Global offshore oil production (including lease condensate and hydrocarbon gas liquids) from deepwater projects reached 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. Deepwater production, or production in water of depths greater than 125 meters, has increased 25% from nearly 7 million b/d a decade ago. More »

Low tanker rates are enabling more long-distance crude oil and petroleum product trade

Recent expansion of the global crude oil and petroleum product tanker fleet has resulted in falling or lower tanker rates for much of 2016 that have widened the geographic scope for economically attractive trade at a time when inventories of both crude oil and petroleum products are at high levels. More »

Offshore production nearly 30% of global crude oil output in 2015

Global offshore oil production in 2015 was at the highest level since 2010, and accounted for nearly 30% of total global crude oil production. Offshore oil production increased in both 2014 and 2015, reversing consecutive annual declines from 2010 to 2013. Production from onshore tight oil plays has increased faster over the past several years and accounts for an increasing amount of total oil production. More »

Short positions in U.S. crude oil futures held by producers, merchants at nine-year high

Short positions in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contracts held by producers or merchants totaled more than 540,000 contracts as of October 11, 2016, the most since 2007, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). More »

U.S. crude oil imports increase during first half of 2016, the first increase since 2010

U.S. gross crude oil imports increased by 528,000 barrels per day (b/d), or 7%, during the first half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2015. This increase reverses a multiyear trend of decreasing U.S. crude oil imports as a result of increasing U.S. production. More »

Low oil prices have affected Russian petroleum companies and government revenues

Russian federal revenue from oil and natural gas production has declined significantly in response to low oil prices. However, Russian oil and natural gas companies' capital investment programs have been less affected, if at all. Russia's two main hydrocarbon taxes are calculated by formulas that result in lower tax rates at lower crude oil prices. More »

Over past decade, Mountain region states have used less coal for electricity generation

Coal has long been the dominant source of electricity generation in the Mountain Census division. In the eight Mountain states, coal-fired power generation made up almost 50% of the region’s total generation in 2015, compared to the national average of 33%. A decade ago, coal’s share in Mountain states was even higher, at 63%. More »

The world’s nine largest operating power plants are hydroelectric facilities

An estimated 62,500 power plants are operating around the world, with a total installed generating capacity of more than 6,000 gigawatts (GW) in 2015. The nine largest operating power plants in the world by capacity are all hydroelectric power plants. More »

Hurricane Matthew caused millions of customers to go without power

Hurricane Matthew resulted in temporary electricity outages for millions of customers along the southern Atlantic Coast. Matthew was a Category 3 hurricane when it hit the east coast of Florida, just north of the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, on Thursday, October 6. More »

Recovering and recycling paper has saved energy

The recovery, or recycling, of paper and paperboard has increased from 34% of supply in 1990 to 67% of supply in 2015. Most of this recovered paper is consumed in the United States, but some is exported. Based on data from the American Forest and Paper Association, domestic consumption of recovered paper at U.S. mills increased to 31 million tons in 2015, while net recovered paper exports increased to 21 million tons. More »

Winter heating bills likely to increase, but still remain below recent winters

Most U.S. households can expect higher heating expenditures this winter (October through March) compared with last winter, according to EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook. Winter heating expenditures for most fuels were especially low last winter, when energy prices were relatively low and warm weather reduced heating demand to the lowest level nationally in at least 25 years. More »

Energy-related CO2 emissions for first six months of 2016 are lowest since 1991

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions totaled 2,530 million metric tons in the first six months of 2016. This was the lowest emissions level for the first six months of the year since 1991, as mild weather and changes in the fuels used to generate electricity contributed to the decline in energy-related emissions. More »

On Thursday, EIA's weekly crude oil inventory will be presented without lease stocks

Starting with the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) published on Thursday, October 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will no longer include crude oil lease stocks in U.S. total commercial crude oil inventory data. Crude oil lease stocks refer to oil (currently about 31 million barrels' worth) that is stored in tanks at sites across the United States where producers are drilling on leased land. Lease stocks are not yet available for commercial use, and in many cases, operators do not count them as production until the oil is transferred off the lease. More »

Hurricane Matthew may cause problems for East Coast energy infrastructure

Hurricane Matthew is expected to make landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm Friday morning. The storm is on track to move north along the East Coast as far as North Carolina this weekend, potentially bringing torrential rainfall, storm surges, and flooding to the region. More »

U.S. residential electricity prices decline for the first time in many years

During the first six months of 2016, residential customers paid on average 12.4 cents per kilowatthour (kWh), or 0.7% lower than the same period last year. If this trend continues for the rest of 2016, annual average residential electricity prices would decline for the first time since 2002. More »

Office buildings with data centers use significantly more electricity than other offices

Data from the most recent Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) show that office buildings with data centers have significantly higher computing, cooling, and total electricity intensity (consumption per square foot) than office buildings without data centers. More »

Growth in propane exports drove U.S. petroleum product export growth in first half of 2016

In the first half of 2016, the United States exported 4.7 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum products, an increase of 500,000 b/d over the first half of 2015 and almost 10 times the crude oil export volume. While U.S. exports of distillate and gasoline increased by 50,000 b/d and nearly 140,000 b/d, respectively, propane exports increased by more than 230,000 b/d. Propane surpassed motor gasoline to become the second-largest U.S. petroleum product export, after distillate. More »

California program encourages adoption of zero-emissions vehicles

California's Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program is expected to increase sales of electric, plug-in hybrid, and other alternative light-duty vehicles in the United States. The ZEV program is administered by the California Air Resource Board and affects model year 2018 and later vehicles, requiring automakers to earn credits for alternative fueled vehicles based on a percentage of their sales in California. More »