High natural gas-fired generation leads to rare summer net national weekly storage draw

Working natural gas storage inventories posted a rare summer net withdrawal of 6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending July 29, 2016, according to EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. Record-high consumption of natural gas for electric power generation drove this withdrawal. Although withdrawals in the summer are not unprecedented, and happen regularly in the South Central storage region, the last time a net withdrawal in July occurred on a national basis was in summer 2006. More »

Oil and natural gas production jobs in May were 26% lower than in October 2014

Despite increases in crude oil prices since the start of the year, employment in oil and natural gas extraction and support activities continued declining from levels reached in the fall of 2014, just before the onset of falling oil prices. The total rig count (including both oil-directed and natural gas-directed rigs) has declined even more sharply, from nearly 1,800 rigs in the fall of 2014 to a weekly low of 404 rigs in May 2016. Crude oil production has also declined, but to a much lesser extent than either employment or rig counts, while natural gas production has leveled off. More »

Future natural gas plant liquids production depends on resources, market conditions

Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) accounted for 22% of total U.S. petroleum and other liquid fuels production in 2015. In EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) Reference case, increases in NGPL account for a significant share of total increases in petroleum and other liquid fuels production over 2015–40. More »

Crude-by-rail volumes to the East Coast are declining

Movements of crude oil by rail within the United States averaged 443,000 barrels per day (b/d) in the first five months of 2016, down 45% from the same period last year. Fewer shipments of crude oil by rail from the Midwest (PADD 2) to the East Coast (PADD 1) account for about half of the decline. Crude oil shipments by rail have generally decreased since last summer for several reasons, including narrowing price differences between domestic and imported crude oil, the opening of new crude oil pipelines, and declining domestic production in the Midwest and Gulf Coast onshore regions. More »

Renewables share of North America electricity mix expected to rise

Based on results from EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) Reference case and International Energy Outlook 2016, EIA projects that the North American share of energy generation from renewable and nuclear energy sources will grow from 38% in 2015 to 45% in 2025. This projection assumes the Clean Power Plan (CPP) is upheld and takes effect in the United States. A recent agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States established a goal of 50% of electricity generation from clean energy sources by 2025. More »

New EIA website spotlights key drivers of petroleum product prices

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the What Drives Petroleum Product Prices website that identifies and tracks several fundamental and financial market factors that influence spot and futures prices of gasoline and distillate, the two most consumed petroleum products in the United States. This website offers charts that highlight changes in consumption, production, inventories, and trade, mostly related to the U.S. domestic market along with some charts that include global indicators. More »