U.S. average gasoline prices this week are similar to the previous two Thanksgivings

As U.S. households prepare for Thanksgiving and the holiday travel season, gasoline prices this year are similar to prices in recent years. As of Monday, November 25, regular retail gasoline prices averaged $2.58 per gallon (gal) nationwide, similar to the $2.61/gal on the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2018 and the $2.57/gal in 2017. More »

U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions rose in 2018 for the first year since 2014

Total U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2018 rose to 5.27 billion metric tons, 2.7% more than its 2017 level. The primary reasons for the increase were higher natural gas-related emissions resulting from more extreme summer and winter weather and growth in transportation-related petroleum emissions, linked to a strong economy. U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions declined in 6 of the past 10 years and were 12% lower in 2018 than in 2005, according to a data series published in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. More »

Puerto Rico electricity generation returned to pre-2017 hurricane levels one year later

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest annual Power Plant Operations Report, nearly a year had passed before net electricity generation in Puerto Rico approached levels similar to those in the months before Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the territory's electricity grid in September 2017. Recovery efforts to repair damage to Puerto Rico's power plants and the electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure permitted generation to return to pre-hurricane levels. More »

Futures markets signal lower natural gas prices in most U.S. regions in early 2020

The current outlook for U.S. natural gas prices at several key regional hubs reflects market expectations for lower prices in January and February 2020. Two factors account for generally lower prices: lower natural gas futures prices at the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub location and lower regional differentials to the Henry Hub (known in natural gas markets as the basis). The Henry Hub price is lower because of continued production increases. More »

EIA increases U.S. crude oil production forecast for 2019 and 2020

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) revises its U.S. crude oil production forecast in each monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) based mainly on two factors: updates to EIA’s published historical data and EIA’s crude oil price forecast. In the November 2019 STEO, EIA increased its forecast of U.S. crude oil production in 2019 by 30,000 barrels per day (b/d) (0.2%) from the October STEO. EIA increased its 2020 crude oil production forecast by 119,000 b/d (0.9%) compared with the October STEO. More »

Nearly half of U.S. geothermal power capacity came online in the 1980s

Geothermal energy has been used to generate electricity in the United States since the early 1960s. The United States has 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of operating geothermal capacity, about half of which came online in the 1980s. EIA expects three plants with a combined capacity of 115 megawatts (MW) to come online in 2020. Nearly all U.S. geothermal capacity is located in California and Nevada. More »

Brazil’s net metering policy leads to growth in solar distributed generation

Brazil’s growth in distributed generation from renewable resources—especially solar—has increased since it implemented net metering policies in 2012. As of mid-November 2019, owners have installed more than 135,000 renewable distributed generation systems in Brazil, totaling about 1.72 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, according to the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) More »

EIA's Heating Oil and Propane Update shows lower prices so far this winter

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Heating Oil and Propane Update (HOPU), prices at the start of the 2019–2020 winter heating season (October 1 through March 31) were 10% lower for heating oil and 22% lower for propane than at the start of the previous winter. HOPU is published as part of the State Heating Oil and Propane Program (SHOPP), a joint effort between EIA and several state energy offices to collect state-level residential heating oil and propane price data from October through March in states where heating oil and propane use is common. More »

U.S. natural gas production, consumption, and exports set new records in 2018

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Natural Gas Annual 2018 shows that the United States set new records in natural gas production, consumption, and exports in 2018. In 2018, dry natural gas production increased by 12%, reaching a record-high average of 83.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). This increase was the largest percentage increase since 1951 and the largest volumetric increase in the history of the series, which dates back to 1930. U.S. natural gas consumption increased by 11% in 2018, driven by increased natural gas consumption in the electric power sector. Natural gas gross exports totaled 10.0 Bcf/d in 2018, 14% more than the 2017 total of 8.6 Bcf/d. Several new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities came online in 2018, allowing for more exports. More »

EPA small refinery exemptions in the Renewable Fuel Standard explained

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates the amount of renewable fuels refineres must blend into the U.S. transportation fuel supply. As part of the RFS program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can grant annual waivers to some petroleum refineries, called small refinery exemptions (SREs), which are provided under conditions of economic hardship. Although these SREs lessen the number of tradable compliance credits that refineries use to comply with the RFS program, actual biofuel consumption is influenced by additional market factors. More »

The Renewable Fuel Standard Program, RVOs, and RINs explained

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a federal program that mandates the incorporation of renewable fuels into the nation’s transportation fuel supply. Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues RFS rulemakings with volume requirements for certain renewable fuel categories and sets those volumes through annual renewable volume obligations (RVO). RVOs are the volumetric biofuel targets for obligated parties such as a refiners and importers of petroleum-based gasoline or diesel fuel. More »

EIA improves its propane and other hydrocarbon gas liquids data

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently improved multiple data series for hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) in its Monthly Energy Review. The updated data series reflect changes in how EIA defines liquefied petroleum gases to better align with industry practice. More »

The U.S. placed near-record volumes of natural gas in storage this injection season

The amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet (Bcf) at the beginning of April to 3,724 Bcf at the end of October because of near-record injection activity during the natural gas injection, or refill, season (April 1–October 31). Inventories as of October 31 were 37 Bcf higher than the previous five-year end-of-October average, according to interpolated values in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. More »

New natural gas pipelines are adding capacity from the South Central, Northeast regions

The United States is expected to add between 16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) and 17 Bcf/d of natural gas pipeline capacity in 2019, most of which was built to provide additional takeaway capacity out of supply basins. Of the 134 active natural gas pipeline projects the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) tracks, 46 have entered or are expected to enter service in 2019. These projects will increase deliveries by pipeline to Mexico or to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in the Gulf Coast region. More »

EIA projects energy consumption in air transportation to increase through 2050

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019), EIA projects global demand for jet fuel to continue increasing through 2050, with consumption growing at a faster rate in countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). EIA expects jet fuel consumption to increase the most in China and other Asian non-OECD countries, driven by greater demand for freight air transport and passenger air travel. More »

Retail gasoline prices in California decline from recent highs

On October 7, 2019, the average California regular retail gasoline price surpassed $4 per gallon (gal) for only the second time since 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. The last time prices reached this level was in May 2019, which was a result of planned and unplanned refinery outages in California. California’s petroleum markets are isolated from the rest of the United States because of its lack of petroleum infrastructure connections to the rest of the country, so unplanned refinery outages in the state can have larger price impacts than in other areas of the country. In addition, California requires a different gasoline specification than the rest of the country, further narrowing supply options. The spike in crude oil prices following the September 14 attacks in Saudi Arabia on crude oil infrastructure led to a small, short-lived gasoline price increase across the United States, followed by several unplanned refinery outages in California. The refinery outages further raised gasoline prices in the state even though average U.S. gasoline prices declined. More »

Associated gas contributes to growth in U.S. natural gas production

A growing share of U.S. natural gas production is associated-dissolved natural gas (natural gas produced from oil wells), which is the result of increased crude oil production from low permeability, tight rock formations—Permian, Bakken, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, and Anadarko. In 2018, associated-dissolved natural gas production in these five major crude oil-producing regions was 12.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), or about 37% of total natural gas production in these regions and about 12% of total U.S. natural gas production. More »

Participation in electricity customer choice programs has remained unchanged since 2013

After more than a decade of steady growth, the share of U.S. electricity sales served by non-utility retail power marketers has grown only slightly since 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) survey of electric utilities. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow some commercial and industrial customers to choose competitive retail power marketers. Fifteen of those states and the District of Columbia allow customers in all sectors to choose competitive retail power marketers. More »