Natural gas inventories remain lower than last year, but higher than the five-year average

Working natural gas inventory levels in the Lower-48 states since April have been lower than they were in 2016 according to EIA’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR), but still higher than the previous five-year average (2012-2016). More »

Nuclear power plant outages were relatively low this summer

U.S. nuclear power plant outages averaged 4.6 gigawatts (GW) during the summer of 2017 (June through August), 10% lower than outages during the summer of 2016. Nuclear outages were highest in June, averaging 7.4 GW, but then averaged 3.8 GW in July and 2.6 GW in August. More »

Chinese coal-fired electricity generation expected to flatten as mix shifts to renewables

Coal-fired electricity generation in China, the world’s largest coal consumer, is expected to remain flat through 2040, according to EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017). Other fuels, such as renewables, natural gas, and nuclear power, are expected to make up increasing shares of China’s electricity generation. More »

National Oil and Gas Gateway consolidates well-level data from participating states

The National Oil and Gas Gateway is the first publicly available website with oil and natural gas well-level data from multiple states. The website was created as a collaborative initiative among the U.S. Energy Information Administration; the Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC) and its member states; and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Oil and Natural Gas, part of the Office of Fossil Energy. More »

Residential electricity prices up 3% in first half of 2017

Retail electricity rates paid by U.S. residential customers averaged 12.8 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) during the first six months of 2017, an increase of about 3% compared to the same period in 2016. First half of 2017 average electricity prices are higher than last year in most areas of the country, with only six states experiencing lower prices. More »

EIA now publishes estimates of monthly rail shipments of petroleum coke and asphalt

To document industry changes and improve data series on petroleum product shipments, EIA’s most recent "Petroleum Supply Monthly" includes new information on petroleum coke and asphalt movements by rail within the United States and to and from Canada. Similar to EIA’s petroleum and biofuel rail movement data, the new monthly data include rail movements dating back to January 2010. More »

Changing quality mix is affecting crude oil price differentials and refining decisions

Growth in global liquid fuels supply since March 2017 has been driven by increases in the production of historically higher-priced light crude oils. This growth has more than offset recent declines in the production of medium and heavy crude oils. As these production trends continue, price differences between certain crude oils are narrowing, and refinery operation decisions are changing. More »

Hurricane Irma cut power to nearly two-thirds of Florida's electricity customers

Hurricane Irma struck Florida on September 10, 2017, and knocked out power to 6.7 million electricity customers—64% of all customer accounts in the state—according to reports compiled by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. In the week since the storm made landfall, less than 5% of Florida’s electricity customers remain without power. More »

Beyond China and India, energy consumption in non-OECD Asia continues to grow

Based on projections in EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017), much of the future growth in world energy consumption will occur in the nations of Asia outside of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (or non-OECD Asia). More »

Coal plants installed mercury controls to meet compliance deadlines

Based on data recently published in EIA’s preliminary annual electric generator survey, several coal-fired electricity generators in the United States installed mercury control equipment using activated carbon injection systems just prior to compliance deadlines. More »

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma lead to higher gasoline prices in Florida

Hurricane Irma significantly disrupted gasoline markets in Florida, first by prompting increased demand and then by disrupting the supply chain needed to deliver the fuel. More »

EIA's International Energy Outlook 2017 will be released this morning

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017) will be released today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Highlights from IEO2017 will be webcast live by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. More »

Hurricane Harvey caused electric system outages and affected wind generation in Texas

Hurricane Harvey caused substantial electricity outages, as power plants and transmission infrastructure—particularly in south Texas and along the Gulf Coast—were affected by high winds and significant flooding. More »

U.S. primary aluminum production remains low despite slow increase in prices

Since January 2015, the production of primary aluminum in the United States has fallen by more than 50%. The United States consistently produced about 140,000 metric tons of aluminum each month until mid-2015, when output slowed significantly. More »

Hurricane Harvey caused U.S. Gulf Coast refinery runs to drop, gasoline prices to rise

Hurricane Harvey caused substantial disruptions to crude oil and petroleum product supply chains and increased petroleum product prices. For the week ending September 1, 2017, gross inputs to refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast fell by 3.2 million b/d, or 34%, from the previous week, the largest drop since Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. More »

Hurricane Irma may cause problems for East Coast energy infrastructure

Hurricane Irma caused significant damage to the northeastern Caribbean and is currently projected to turn towards Florida this weekend. Current model forecasts project that Hurricane Irma will then pass along or just offshore the east coast of Florida, though the actual storm track could change from current advanced projections. To help analysts assess energy-related potential storm effects, EIA maintains an energy disruptions map that displays energy infrastructure and real-time storm information. More »

Electricity prices reflect rising delivery costs, declining power production costs

Over the past decade, retail electricity prices have not closely followed the costs of fuels used to generate electricity, such as coal or natural gas, mainly because of changes in the other costs involved with producing and delivering electricity in the United States. More »

U.S. average retail gasoline prices increase in wake of Hurricane Harvey

U.S. retail gasoline prices on Monday, September 4, averaged $2.68 per gallon (gal), 28 cents/gal higher than prices a week ago. More »

Oman’s petroleum and other liquids production reached record levels in 2016

Oman set a new record with annual total oil production in 2016 exceeding 1 million barrels per day (b/d). Oman’s petroleum and other liquids production ranks seventh among the Middle Eastern countries. Oman is the largest oil producer in the Middle East that is not a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). More »

Hurricane Harvey adds uncertainty to gasoline prices for the upcoming Labor Day weekend

Hurricane Harvey, which first made landfall on August 25, 2017, has created considerable uncertainty for gasoline supply and prices, as the area affected by the hurricane is home to much of the nation's petroleum infrastructure. On August 28, the U.S. average retail gasoline price was $2.40 per gallon (gal), the second-lowest price on the Monday before Labor Day since 2004. More »