Calcasieu Pass, the seventh U.S. liquefied natural gas export terminal, begins production

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has authorized Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, LLC, (Venture Global)—the developer of the Calcasieu Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal—to commission the first six of nine liquefaction blocks. Each block contains two liquefaction systems called trains. The first authorization, issued in November 2021, was one of the initial steps toward full commercial service. More »

China processed record amounts of crude oil in 2021 but exported less gasoline and diesel

China processed record amounts of crude oil in 2021 to meet rising domestic consumption of petroleum products. In the second half of the year, China processed slightly less crude oil and began exporting significantly less gasoline and diesel than in the first half of the year to ensure sufficient domestic supply. More »

Three producing regions drove U.S. natural gas production in 2021

In 2021, U.S. natural gas production increased 2% and reached 118.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) on a monthly basis in December 2021, the highest on record. Three regions drove this growth: Appalachia, Permian, and Haynesville, which collectively accounted for 59% of gross withdrawals in 2021 compared with 24% in 2011. More »

Renewable generation surpassed nuclear in the U.S. electric power sector in 2021

Electric power sector generation from renewable sources totaled 795 million megawatthours (MWh) in the United States during 2021, surpassing nuclear generation, which totaled 778 million MWh. The U.S. electric power sector does not include electricity generators in the industrial, commercial, or residential sectors, such as small-scale solar or wind or some combined-heat-and-power systems. Renewable generation includes electricity generated from wind, hydropower, solar, biomass, and geothermal sources. More »

Most combined-cycle power plants employ two combustion turbines with one steam turbine

Natural gas is the most prevalent energy source used for electricity generation in the United States. Of the 491 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas-fired electric-generating capacity in the country, more than half (280 GW) are combined-cycle systems that include both steam turbines and combustion turbines. The predominant configuration for combined-cycle systems involves two combustion turbines and one steam turbine (2x1). More »

China increased both natural gas imports and domestic production in 2021

In 2021, an average 35.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas was consumed in China, more natural gas than in any previous year. More than half of the natural gas consumed in China in 2021 came from domestic production, but China also imported record amounts of natural gas by pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG), based on data from Global Trade Tracker and China’s General Administration of Customs. More »

Nearly all new U.S. crude oil and natural gas wells are horizontal or directional

The data series recently added to our Monthly Energy Review (MER) provide information on crude oil and natural gas well completions and drilled footage for U.S. wells completed since 2010. In 2021, 81% of U.S. well completions were horizontal or directional, as opposed to 19% of wells that were drilled vertically. Horizontal and directional wells involve drilling a vertical well and then, at a certain depth, bending the path of the drilling away from the vertical well. Although the total number of crude oil and natural gas wells completed in the United States declined by 66% between 2010 and 2021, and total footage (drilling length) has fallen by 30%, U.S. crude oil production has more than doubled, and U.S. gross withdrawals of natural gas have increased 55%. More »

Liquefied natural gas exports continue to lead growth in U.S. natural gas exports

Since the United States began exporting more natural gas than it imports on an annual basis in 2017, natural gas exports both by pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG) have grown significantly. In our Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that LNG exports will continue to lead the growth in U.S. natural gas exports and average 12.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2022. If realized, the United States would surpass Australia and Qatar and become the world's top LNG exporter this year. More »

EIA expects summer U.S. real gasoline and diesel prices to be the highest since 2014

In our Summer Fuels Outlook, a supplement to our April 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook, we expect retail gasoline prices to average $3.84 per gallon (gal) this summer driving season, April through September, compared with last summer's average price of $3.06/gal. After adjusting for inflation, this summer's forecast national average price would mark the highest retail gasoline and diesel prices since 2014. More »

Residential heating oil and propane prices end the winter season higher than last winter

The U.S. average residential heating oil price ended the 2021–22 winter heating season at $5.13 per gallon (gal), $2.26/gal higher than at the same time last year, according to our Heating Oil and Propane Update. The U.S. average residential propane price ended the winter heating season at $2.98/gal, which is $0.69 higher than the end of season value for last winter. More »

The United States ended the winter with the least natural gas in storage in three years

Increased heating demand for natural gas this past winter resulted in more withdrawals from U.S. natural gas storage than normal. By the end of March, the least amount of natural gas was held in U.S underground storage in the Lower 48 states since 2019. More »

Wind was second-largest source of U.S. electricity generation on March 29

On Tuesday, March 29, wind turbines in the Lower 48 states produced 2,017 gigawatthours (GWh) of electricity, making wind the second-largest source of electric generation for the day, only behind natural gas, according to our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. Daily wind-powered electricity had surpassed coal-fired and nuclear electricity generation separately on other days earlier this year but had not surpassed both sources on a single day. More »

Haynesville natural gas production reached a record high in late 2021

Dry natural gas production from the Haynesville shale play in northeastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana reached new highs in the second half of 2021, and production has remained relatively strong in early 2022. Haynesville natural gas production accounted for about 13% of all U.S. dry natural gas production in February 2022. More »

The United States increased both imports and exports of petroleum products in 2021

In 2021, an average of 5.7 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum products were exported from the United States, an increase of 360,000 b/d from 2020. U.S. imports of petroleum products also increased to 2.4 million b/d in 2021, up by 371,000 b/d from 2020. Increased domestic and global economic activity was one factor that increased both petroleum product imports into the United States and U.S. exports of petroleum products during 2021. U.S. imports increased more than U.S. exports of petroleum products in 2021, but the United States exported more petroleum products than it imported by nearly 3.3 million b/d. More »

In 2020, 27% of U.S. households had difficulty meeting their energy needs

In 2020, 34 million U.S. households (27% of all U.S. households) reported difficulty paying energy bills or reported that they had kept their home at an unsafe temperature because of energy cost concerns. This estimate is less than what was reported in the previous iteration of the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), when 37 million households, or 31%, reported similar issues in 2015. The RECS measures household energy insecurity by asking a series of questions about challenges paying energy bills or conditions of unsafe temperatures attributable to energy cost concerns. More »

U.S. nuclear electricity generation continues to decline as more reactors retire

In 2021, for the second consecutive year, U.S. nuclear electricity generation declined. Output from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 778 million megawatthours in 2021, or 1.5% less than the previous year. Nuclear’s share of U.S. electricity generation across all sectors in 2021 was similar to its average share in the previous decade: 19%. More »

U.S. residential electricity expenditures increased by $5 per month in 2021

Utility electric bills for residential customers in the United States increased by $5 per month to average $122 in 2021. Average monthly residential electricity expenditures ranged from a high of $178 per month in Hawaii to a low of $82 per month in Utah. More »

Ethane to outpace growth in all other U.S. petroleum product consumption through 2023

Consumption of ethane has grown every year since 2010 in the United States, and more ethane is now consumed in the country than either jet fuel or propane. Consumption of ethane, which we estimate using product supplied, grew by 50,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2021, according to data from our March 2022 Petroleum Supply Monthly. We forecast in our March 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) that by 2023, U.S. consumption of ethane will grow by another 340,000 b/d. More »

Prices for California's emissions credits increase in early 2022 auction

In its first quarterly auction of 2022, emissions credits in the joint California-Quebec allowance auction sold for $29.15 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, or nearly $10 per metric ton more than the minimum price for allowances. Emissions credits sold in this market can be used to comply with California's cap-and-trade program, which covers nearly all sources of emissions within the state, including electric utilities, industrial facilities, and distributors of natural gas and gasoline. More »

EIA explores effects of not building future interstate natural gas pipelines

In our Annual Energy Outlook 2022 (AEO2022), Issues in Focus: Exploration of the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds, we analyze the effects on the energy market if no additional U.S. natural gas pipeline capacity is built between 2024 and 2050. In the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds case, we project 5% less natural gas production and 4% less natural gas consumption in 2050 compared with the Reference case. We also project that the Henry Hub spot price in 2050 would be 11% higher in that case than in the Reference case. More »

EIA's monthly hydrocarbon gas liquids storage data now includes end-user storage

Yesterday's release of EIA's March 2022 Petroleum Supply Monthly now reports inventories of hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) that include volumes of ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline at end-user storage facilities as part of our reported wholesale terminal stocks. Starting in January 2021, we expanded the scope of our Monthly Bulk Terminal Report to include HGLs held by selected end users with at least 50,000 barrels of storage capacity and by smaller facilities that can ship products by pipeline, tanker, or barge. This more comprehensive approach to inventory accounting also affects our estimate of product supplied, which we use as a proxy for consumption of petroleum products. Revisions that increase inventory builds will tend to lower our estimate of product supplied and vice versa. More »