Product Highlight: EIA's Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update

Each Monday, we publish our Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update (GDFU), which tracks the latest retail prices of certain petroleum products. Readers can explore current trends in fuel prices as well as historical data. The GDFU provides U.S. average retail prices for regular-grade motor gasoline, dating back to August 1990, and on-highway diesel fuel prices, dating back to March 1994. More »

U.S. coal-fired generation declining after brief rise last year

We expect 6% less U.S. coal-fired generation in 2022 than in 2021, according to our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Although coal-fired generation declined each year between 2014 and 2020, it rose 16% in 2021 as a result of increased electricity demand and higher natural gas prices following the pandemic. Despite natural gas prices remaining high, coal-fired generation has continued its previous trend of decline this year as a result of constrained coal supply. More »

Decline in drilled but uncompleted wells may limit future crude oil production growth

According to our Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), more wells were completed than were drilled in the United States from July 2020 through September 2022 (the latest month for which data are available). As a result, the number of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) in the United States fell to 4,333 as of September 2022, the fewest since at least December 2013, when we started estimating the number of DUCs. Fewer DUCs, along with natural gas pipeline constraints, could limit future U.S. crude oil production growth. More »

Homes and buildings in the West and Northeast have the largest share of small-scale solar

In 2020, 3.7% of U.S. single-family homes, including mobile homes, generated electricity from small-scale solar systems (solar panels installed on a home or building), according to our 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). In 2018, 1.6% of U.S. commercial buildings had small-scale solar generation, according to our 2018 Commercial Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). More »

As much as 15 million barrels of crude oil sold from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a notice of sale of as much as 15 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) on October 18, 2022, to help address the market supply disruption caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and to help lower energy costs. The sale was held on October 19, 2022, for delivery in December 2022. This sale will complete the 180 million barrel sale of crude oil from the SPR that President Biden announced in the spring of 2022 and is part of a larger effort to ensure an adequate supply of petroleum in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. More »

In 2021, both U.S. natural gas production and exports set new records

In 2021, both U.S. natural gas marketed production and natural gas exports established new records. Marketed, or wet, natural gas production—which includes both dry natural gas and natural gas plant liquids (NGPLs) such as ethane and propane—grew 3% in 2021 after declining in 2020. U.S. natural gas exports, which have more than doubled since 2017, increased 26% in 2021. The U.S. natural gas flow diagram from our Natural Gas Annual report shows the annual volume of U.S. natural gas supply (production, imports, and withdrawals from storage) and disposition (consumption, exports, and additions to storage) in 2021. More »

Households primarily heating with heating oil or propane will likely pay more this winter

According to our 2022 Winter Fuels Outlook, we expect that households that use heating oil as the primary fuel for space heating will spend 27% more money on heating this winter than last winter, in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation). Higher prices for heating oil, combined with greater heating demand due to colder temperatures, will increase heating costs. Households that use propane as the primary space-heating fuel will likely pay 5% more in winter heating costs compared with last winter, in nominal terms. More »

Coal shipments to U.S. power plants fell by more than half between 2010 and 2021

U.S. power plants received 449 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2021, less than half of the 957 MMst they received in 2010. Coal shipments to U.S. power plants declined over the past decade as coal-fired generation in the country fell and coal-fired power plants shut down. More »

95% of the fuel ethanol moved in the United States in the first half of 2022 moved by rail

Fuel ethanol, a biofuel most commonly mixed with finished motor gasoline, is second only to coal as the most-transported fuel by rail. According to our Petroleum Supply Monthly, 95% of all U.S. fuel ethanol deliveries between regions in the first half of 2022 were by rail. The majority of the U.S. capacity to produce fuel ethanol (94%) is in the Midwest; however, most ethanol is consumed in other regions. More »

U.S. natural gas bills will increase in all regions this winter

In our latest Winter Fuels Outlook, we forecast that U.S. households that primarily use natural gas for space heating will spend an average of $931 on heating this winter (October–March), which is 28% (or $206) more than last year. More »

Daily U.S. summer nuclear capacity outages were 19% lower this summer than last summer

Daily U.S. nuclear capacity outages averaged 2.5 gigawatts (GW) during the summer of 2022 (June 1 through August 31), nearly 19% lower than the 3.1 GW average in summer 2021. Summer nuclear capacity outages were lowest in mid-August, averaging 1.0 GW, and highest in June, averaging 3.8 GW. More »

EIA expects most U.S. households will spend more on energy this winter

We expect that most U.S. households will spend more money on energy this winter than last winter, according to our latest Winter Fuels Outlook (released October 2022). We primarily forecast an increase in household energy expenditures this winter because we expect higher retail energy prices and a slightly colder winter. More »

U.S. natural gas production set a new record in 2021

U.S. dry natural gas production set an annual record in 2021, increasing by 3.5% from 2020, according to our recently released Natural Gas Annual. In 2020, production had dipped because of reduced economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, dry natural gas production exceeded the previous record set in 2019, and our Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts that production will continue to grow through 2023. More »

The United States produces lighter crude oil, imports heavier crude oil

In the first half of 2022, U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.1 million barrels per day (b/d), up from an annual average of 10.8 million b/d in 2021. Crude oil with a higher API gravity is lighter, or less dense. Production of light crude oil with an API value greater than 45.1 degrees increased the most, while production of heavy crude oil with an API lower than 30.0 degrees declined. More »

Number of drilled but uncompleted U.S. wells continues to decline from record in 2020

Based on our latest Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) in all U.S. DPR regions totaled an estimated 4,283 wells in August 2022, the least in any month since we started estimating DUCs in October 2013. The decline in DUCs in most major U.S. onshore oil- and natural gas-producing regions indicates that more wells are being completed and fewer new wells are being drilled. More »

ERCOT electricity prices vary more with changes in wind power than with electricity demand

In the Short-Term Energy Outlook Supplement released on October 4, we analyzed how variability in electricity demand and wind generation affects hourly electricity prices in Texas’s wholesale power market under summer peak-day conditions, when summer electricity demand is highest. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)—which runs the wholesale power market in Texas—has had significant peak-load growth in recent years (16% between 2011 and 2022) and significantly increased its wind generation (from 9% of the electricity generation mix in 2011 to 24% in 2021). We found that both high levels of electricity demand and low wind availability can significantly raise wholesale prices in ERCOT, supported by its market design. When combined, these factors can lead to especially sharp price spikes during summer peak-day conditions. More »

China processed the least crude oil since early 2020 in second-quarter 2022

In the second quarter of 2022, China processed the least crude oil since the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had the strongest effect on China's economic activity. The resurgence of COVID-19 cases since March 2022 and China's policy of localized mobility restrictions explain China's reduced demand for petroleum products, and as a result, reduced refinery activity, in the second quarter of 2022. More »

Residential and commercial natural gas prices reach multiyear highs in 2022

Residential and commercial U.S. natural gas prices were relatively high throughout 2021 and have exceeded the previous five-year (2017–21) range so far this year, according to our recently released Natural Gas Monthly. In real terms, the 2021 annual residential price was the highest since 2014, and the commercial price was the highest since 2015. For January–July 2022, the nominal residential price averaged $13.25 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), 25% higher than for the same period in 2021. The commercial price averaged $10.50/Mcf, which was 33% higher. More »

Hurricane Ian temporarily disrupts Florida’s gasoline supply chain

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida’s western coast on September 28 as a Category 4 hurricane. The hurricane-related rain and wind and the resulting flooding disrupted key gasoline supply chains to the state. Florida does not have any refineries or gasoline pipelines that connect it to states with excess supply. Florida's gasoline is delivered by ship from domestic and international sources. Because of the storm, several ports were temporarily closed, and the remaining ports were open with restrictions. More »