Brazil plans to add more solar to its hydro-dominated electricity generation mix

Brazil is the second-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world, after only China, and hydropower accounted for more than 70% of the country's electricity generation in 2018. Brazil's latest 10-year energy plan seeks to maintain this level of hydro generation while increasing the share of nonhydro renewables, particularly solar. More »

EIA's new liquids pipeline projects database shows new U.S. crude oil pipeline capacity

EIA recently launched a new liquids pipeline projects database that tracks more than 200 crude oil, hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL), and petroleum products pipeline projects. Rising domestic crude oil production has led to several changes in Gulf Coast crude oil supply and demand patterns, creating a need for more pipeline capacity. Crude oil pipeline capacity additions originating in the Gulf Coast region represent most of the scheduled pipeline capacity growth over the next few years. EIA's new database provides an improved capability to track this growth. More »

Germany announces proposal to phase out coal by 2038, further changing its generation mix

In January 2019, Germany’s government-appointed coal commission introduced a proposed pathway to phase out all coal electricity generation by 2038. This, along with previous actions to phase out nuclear generation, would result in further changes in Germany’s electricity generation mix, which has increasingly used renewable technologies and natural gas. This phaseout is part of the country’s Energiewende—a planned transition to low-carbon domestic energy production. More »

U.S. gasoline prices this Memorial Day weekend are nearly the same as last year’s

Heading into the 2019 Memorial Day weekend, regular gasoline prices averaged $2.85 per gallon (gal) nationally on May 20, slightly lower than last year’s price of $2.92/gal before the holiday weekend. More »

California gasoline prices increase following refinery outages and declining inventories

In early May, the California retail gasoline price averaged $4.01 per gallon (gal), surpassing the $4/gal mark for the first time since 2014. By comparison, the U.S. retail gasoline price averaged $2.90/gal. Much of the recent increase in California’s gasoline prices is attributable to refinery outages—both planned and unplanned—and falling gasoline inventories in the region More »

Con Edison limits natural gas service due to pipeline constraints into New York City area

In January 2019, Consolidated Edison, Inc., (Con Edison)—the largest utility provider in the New York City area, serving 10 million customers—announced a moratorium on new natural gas connections in most of Westchester County, effective March 16. Demand for natural gas in the New York City area has increased in recent years, leading to concerns about reliability of service. Con Edison claimed it cannot guarantee uninterrupted service to new natural gas connections. Between the announcement of the moratorium and its start on March 16, Con Edison received 1,600 applications for firm natural gas service in the moratorium area. Customers on firm natural gas service contracts have delivery priority above those on interruptible contracts. More »

Venezuelan crude oil production falls to lowest level since January 2003

In April 2019, Venezuela's crude oil production averaged 830,000 barrels per day (b/d), down from 1.2 million b/d at the beginning of the year, according to EIA’s May 2019 Short-Term Energy Outlook. This average is the lowest level since January 2003, when a nationwide strike and civil unrest largely brought the operations of Venezuela's state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), to a halt. Widespread power outages, mismanagement of the country's oil industry, and U.S. sanctions directed at Venezuela's energy sector and PdVSA have all contributed to the recent declines. More »

Coal stockpiles at U.S. coal power plants were at their lowest point in over a decade

U.S. coal stockpiles decreased to 98.7 million tons in February 2019, their lowest value in more than a decade. Total U.S. coal stockpiles have fallen as more coal plants have retired. More »

New EIA product expands access to state and regional energy information

EIA’s new State Energy Portal provides greater access to more state-level U.S. energy data with interactive, customizable views of more than 150 charts, tables, and maps. Infographics show the overall energy context for the states; state rankings provide a way to compare states. Users can download charts and embed them in their websites. EIA developed this tool in response to feedback from a wide variety of customers who use its state-level data. EIA released the new portal as a Beta product on May 15, 2019. More »

Tax credit phaseout encourages more wind power plants to be added by end of year

EIA expects that U.S. wind capacity additions in 2019 will total 12.7 gigawatts (GW), exceeding annual capacity additions for the previous six years but falling short of the record 13.3 GW of wind capacity added in 2012. Expected capacity additions discussed in this article are based on projects reported to EIA through surveys and reported in EIA’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. More »

EIA revises its crude oil price forecast upward as supply expectations change

In its May 2019 edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA revised its price forecast for Brent crude oil upward, reflecting price increases in recent months, more recent data, and changing expectations of global oil markets. Several supply constraints have caused oil markets to be generally tighter and oil prices to be higher so far in 2019 than previous STEOs expected. More »

Liquefied natural gas imports limited price spikes in New England this winter

During winter 2018–2019, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at terminals serving New England played an important role in moderating natural gas prices in the region. LNG imports are regasified at these terminals and then sent to natural gas distribution networks. These sendout volumes increased during times of high spot natural gas prices at the Algonquin Citygate, a widely referenced trading hub and benchmark for natural gas prices in New England, effectively limiting further increases in spot prices. More »

2018 was likely the most profitable year for U.S. oil producers since 2013

Net income for 43 U.S. oil producers totaled $28 billion in 2018, a five-year high. Based on net income, 2018 was the most profitable year for these U.S. oil producers since 2013, despite crude oil prices that were lower in 2018 than in 2013 on an annual average basis. More »

EIA expects less electricity to come from coal this summer as natural gas, renewables rise

EIA expects power plants in the United States will generate 1,168 million megawatthours of electricity during the 2019 summer months (June–August), 2% less than last summer, according to the May 2019 Short-Term Energy Outlook. EIA expects changes in the mix of energy sources, especially for coal, which is forecast to provide 25% of U.S. generation this summer, down from 28% last summer. Natural gas will provide the largest share of total U.S. generation this summer at 40%, up from 39% last summer, according to EIA’s forecast. More »

U.S. energy consumption, production, and exports reach record highs in 2018

The United States produced a record amount of energy from various sources in 2018, reaching 96 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), an 8% increase from 2017. This increase in production outpaced the 4% increase in U.S. energy consumption, which also reached a record high of 101 quads. At the same time, U.S. energy exports increased 18% to a record high of 21 quads in 2018, reducing net energy imports into the United States to a 54-year low of 4 quads, or less than 4% of U.S. energy consumption. More »

Soybean oil comprises a larger share of domestic biodiesel production

Biodiesel production accounts for an increasing share of soybean oil use in the United States, currently representing about 30% of domestic soybean oil disposition. Soybean oil is the most commonly used vegetable oil for biodiesel production, and inputs reached 7.1 billion pounds during the latest soybean oil marketing year. Growth in biodiesel production has coincided with federal biofuel mandates and other conditions that encouraged a larger share of the domestic soybean oil supply to be consumed as biofuel feedstock. More »

U.S. uranium production in 2018 was the lowest in nearly 70 years

The United States produced 1.47 million pounds of uranium concentrate in 2018, down for the fourth consecutive year and the lowest total since 1950, based on preliminary production data. Uranium production in the United States has declined since its peak of 43.7 million pounds in 1980 and has remained below 5 million pounds annually for more than 20 years. More »

The number of drilled but uncompleted wells in the United States continues to climb

The number of drilled but uncompleted wells in seven key oil and natural gas production regions in the United States has increased over the last two years, reaching a high of 8,504 wells in February 2019, according to well counts in EIA's Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The most recent count, at 8,500 wells in March 2019, was 26% higher than the previous March. More »

United States has been a net exporter of natural gas for more than 12 consecutive months

U.S. net natural gas exports in February 2019 totaled 4.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), marking 13 consecutive months in which U.S. natural gas exports exceeded imports. The United States exports natural gas by pipeline to both Canada and Mexico and increasingly exports liquefied natural gas (LNG) to several other countries. More »

One in four U.S. homes is all electric

A growing number of homes in the United States are all electric, with 25% of homes nationwide using only electricity according to EIA’s 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The share of all-electric homes has risen in each census region over the past decade, particularly in the Midwest and South. Changes to the types of equipment used in homes and faster population growth in warmer climates have contributed to the rise in all-electric homes. More »