The recent decline in light-duty vehicle sales has affected cars more than light trucks

The 729,000 vehicles sold in the United States in April 2020 amounted to the lowest total since early 2010. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of light-duty vehicle sales in April is the lowest in the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data series that dates back to 1976. Car sales have fallen by a larger percentage than light truck sales: in April, car sales were down 59% from the previous April, and light truck sales were down 42%. These changes in the makeup of vehicle sales have implications for fuel economy because cars tend to use less fuel per mile traveled than light trucks. More »

U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years

In 2019, U.S. annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeded coal consumption for the first time since before 1885, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. This outcome mainly reflects the continued decline in the amount of coal used for electricity generation over the past decade as well as growth in renewable energy, mostly from wind and solar. Compared with 2018, coal consumption in the United States decreased nearly 15%, and total renewable energy consumption grew by 1%. More »

North American crude oil prices are closely, but not perfectly, connected

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) front-month futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the most heavily used crude oil price benchmark in North America, saw its largest and swiftest decline ever on April 20, 2020, dropping as low as -$40.32 per barrel (b) during intraday trading before closing at -$37.63/b. Prices have since recovered, and even though the market event proved short-lived, the incident is useful for highlighting the interconnectedness of the wider North American crude oil market. More »

EIA forecasts lower U.S. natural gas consumption in 2020

In the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that decreases in natural gas consumption in the United States in 2020 will be driven by declines in natural gas used in the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. In the U.S. electric power sector, EIA forecasts natural gas consumption to decline in the second half of 2020 after growing in the first half of the year. More »

Daytime electricity demand in New York City most affected by COVID-19 mitigation actions

Actions to mitigate the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily weekday electricity demand in New York City to decrease by 16% in April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. However, decreases in the city's electricity demand have not occurred uniformly across the day. The largest differences between actual and expected demand have been during daytime weekday hours when many schools and businesses that normally would have been open are now closed. More »

Most new utility-scale solar in the United States is being built in the South Atlantic

In the past three years, the South Atlantic region of the United States installed more new utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity than any other region of the country. States in the South Atlantic region installed 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in 2019, more than double the 1.0 GW installed in California, which had the second-highest new solar capacity additions. Despite being home to the strong sun states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, at 0.9 GW, less solar capacity was installed in the rest of the West region in 2019 than in either the South Atlantic or in California. More »

The number of active U.S. crude oil and natural gas rigs is at the lowest point on record

Producers were operating the fewest oil and natural gas drilling rigs on record in the United States at 339 on May 12, the lowest level in the Baker Hughes Company's rig count data series that dates back to 1987. The number of active rigs began sharply decreasing in mid-March as crude oil prices fell: rigs have fallen by 56% (433 rigs) since March 17. Most of the decrease was in oil-focused geologic plays, but natural gas-focused plays also saw significant decreases. More »

EIA expects record liquid fuels inventory builds in early 2020, followed by draws

As mitigation efforts to contain the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continue to lead to rapid declines in petroleum consumption around the world, the production of liquid fuels globally has changed more slowly, leading to record increases in the amount of crude oil and other petroleum liquids placed into storage in recent months. In its May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects global inventory builds will be largest in the first half of 2020. EIA estimates that inventory builds rose at a rate of 6.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first quarter and will increase by 11.5 million b/d in the second quarter because of widespread travel limitations and sharp reductions in economic activity. More »

Large battery systems are often paired with renewable energy power plants

Pairing renewable energy generators with energy storage, particularly batteries, is increasingly common as the cost of energy storage continues to decrease. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest inventory of electric generators shows that the number of solar and wind generation sites co-located with batteries has grown from 19 paired sites in 2016 to 53 paired sites in 2019. This trend is expected to continue: according to planned installations reported to EIA, another 56 facilities pairing renewable energy and battery storage will come online by the end of 2023. More »

EIA expects lower natural gas production in 2020

In its May 2020 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. marketed natural gas production will decrease by 5% in 2020 because of a weakening economic outlook from the impact of efforts to reduce the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). EIA expects U.S. marketed natural gas production to average 94.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2020, down from 99.2 Bcf/d in 2019. More »

EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production to fall in 2020 and 2021

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. crude oil production to fall in 2020 and 2021 as efforts to mitigate the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to result in a steep drop in demand for petroleum products and crude oil prices. In its May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will average 11.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020 and 10.9 million b/d in 2021. These levels would be 0.5 million b/d and 1.3 million b/d, respectively, lower than the 2019 average of 12.2 million b/d. More »

EIA expects energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to fall 11% this year

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will decline by 11% in 2020. If realized, this decline would represent the largest decline in not only percentage but also absolute terms in EIA's energy-related CO2 series that dates back to 1949. In EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions are forecast to fall more than the 5% decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. More »

Coal transportation rates in the United States decreased for the fifth consecutive year

U.S. delivered coal costs, which reflect commodity and transportation costs, have declined steadily since 2010 (in constant 2017 dollars per ton). In 2019, the average transportation cost of coal was $15.03 per ton, down from $16.07 per ton in 2018. Transportation costs accounted for about 40% of the total delivered cost of coal in 2019, down 1% compared with the previous year. In the past 10 years, coal commodity costs have fallen faster than transportation costs. As a result, transportation's share of the total delivered cost of coal has increased since 2008, when transportation accounted for about one-third of the total cost. More »

U.S. coal-fired electricity generation in 2019 falls to 42-year low

Output from the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet dropped to 966,000 gigawatthours (GWh) in 2019, the lowest level since 1976. The decline in last year's coal generation levels was the largest percentage decline in history (16%) and second-largest in absolute terms (240,000 GWh). More »

Growth in India's LNG imports will depend on completion of connecting pipelines

India has been the world's fourth-largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) since 2011, gradually increasing LNG imports as the country's domestic natural gas production declined and domestic consumption increased. India's LNG import capacity more than doubled during the past 10 years, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects it to increase by a third in the next 3 years as regasification facilities currently under construction come online. However, the construction of domestic pipelines to move LNG from the coastal import facilities to major demand centers further inland has experienced delays. Future growth in India's LNG imports will depend on the timely completion of natural gas pipeline networks. More »

Daily electricity demand impacts from COVID-19 mitigation efforts differ by region

Recent business shutdowns and changes to normal routines related to mitigation efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily weekday electricity demand in the central region of the United States to decrease by 9%–13% in March and April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. This decrease is similar to declines seen in New York. In contrast, other areas of the country, such as Florida, have not experienced significant changes, which may partly be caused by regional differences in how much electricity each end-use sector consumes and the varying effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts on the sectors. More »

Daily electricity demand in New York falls about 13% after COVID-19 mitigation efforts

Recent business shutdowns and changes to normal routines related to mitigation efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily, weekday electricity demand in New York state to decrease by 11%–14% in March and April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. Electricity demand changes in New York state and in New York City, in particular, have been more pronounced than in other parts of the country, which may partly be caused by differences in electricity consumption across regions and the varying effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts on these sectors. More »

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide fell by 2.8% in 2019, slightly below 2017 levels

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions declined by 2.8% in 2019 to 5,130 million metric tons (MMmt), according to data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. CO2 emissions had increased by 2.9% in 2018, the only annual increase in the past five years. Because of continuing trends in how much energy the U.S economy uses and how much CO2 that energy use generates, energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 fell more than energy consumption, which declined by 0.9% in 2019, and gross domestic product, which increased by 2.3% in 2019. More »

Low transportation fuel demand and low profitability drive refinery run declines

Transportation fuel demand has decreased since early March 2020 as a result of reduced economic activity and stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). U.S. refineries have reduced the amount of crude oil and other inputs that they process (also known as refinery runs). U.S. refinery runs fell for four consecutive weeks, reaching 12.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in the week ending April 17, and increased slightly to 13.2 million b/d for the week ending April 24, or nearly 21% lower than the previous five-year average for this time of year. More »

U.S. ethanol exports fell for the first time in four years in 2019

The United States exported 96,000 barrels per day (b/d) of fuel ethanol in 2019, the first annual drop in U.S. ethanol exports since 2015. Despite the decrease, total exports remained at the second-highest level on record. The United States exported more fuel ethanol than it imported in 2019, the 10th year in a row as a net exporter. More »