U.S. electric power sector's use of water continued its downward trend in 2020

The U.S. electric power sector's cooling water withdrawals fell 10.5% from 53.1 trillion gallons in 2019 to 47.5 trillion gallons in 2020, continuing the downward trend in withdrawals. The decline has been driven by the increased use of renewable and natural gas-fired generation in place of coal-fired generation, as well as less use of once-through cooling technologies. More »

EIA forecasts U.S. natural gas production will establish a new monthly record high in 2022

In our December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that U.S. dry natural gas production will increase from 95.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in October 2021 to 97.5 Bcf/d by December 2022, a new record. The previous monthly record of 97.2 Bcf/d was set in November 2019. More »

Of the operating U.S. coal-fired power plants, 28% plan to retire by 2035

Although coal-fired power plants have no mandatory retirement age, power plant owners and operators have reported to EIA that they plan to retire 28%, or 59 gigawatts (GW), of the coal-fired capacity currently operating in the United States by 2035. As of September 2021, 212 GW of utility-scale coal-fired electric-generating capacity was operating in the United States, most of which was built in the 1970s and 1980s, according to our Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. More »

Higher wages in China increase consumer demand but have a limited effect on energy use

In the International Energy Outlook 2021 (IEO2021), Issues in Focus: Changes in Composition of Economic Growth in China, we compared the IEO2021 Reference case with the Higher China Wages case—a case in which we assumed that a smaller working-age population will result in a faster increase in wages through 2050. We compared these cases to better understand the potential economic outcomes in China and the associated energy use in each case. More »

Less production and more demand have reduced U.S. jet fuel inventories

On November 26, U.S. jet fuel inventories were at their lowest level since late 2014, according to data in our Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Refineries produced less jet fuel in October compared with this summer, and since August, jet fuel demand has increased to near pre-pandemic levels. This increased demand, along with reduced production, has caused inventories to decline. More »

The Brent crude oil price decline on November 26 was among the largest in years

The front-month futures price for Brent crude oil decreased by $9.50 per barrel, or nearly 12%, on November 26 after the World Health Organization designated the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant as a variant of concern. Daily Brent crude oil prices have fallen by at least 10% on only 8 days since 2000. More »