Energy resource permanent funds vary by purpose and state

Taxation of coal, crude oil, and natural gas production presents opportunities for states to collect revenue as nonrenewable resources are produced. Natural resource permanent funds are revenues earned from taxing the extraction of energy resources and are set aside by national, state, and local governments for strategic or long-term use More »

U.S. energy demand slows except for industrial, commercial sectors

U.S. energy consumption has slowed recently and is not anticipated to return to growth levels seen in the second half of the 20th century. EIA's Reference case projections in the Annual Energy Outlook 2015 show that domestic consumption is expected to grow 0.3% per year through 2040, less than half the rate of population growth. Energy used in homes is flat, and transportation consumption declines slightly, meaning that energy consumption growth will be concentrated in U.S. businesses and industries. More »

Projections show U.S. becoming a net exporter of natural gas

In its recently released Annual Energy Outlook 2015, EIA expects the United States to be a net natural gas exporter by 2017. Increased availability of domestic gas or higher world energy prices each increase the gap between the cost of U.S. natural gas and world prices that encourages exports of liquefied natural gas, and, to a lesser extent, greater exports by pipeline to Mexico. More »

Floating LNG regasification is used to meet rising natural gas demand in smaller markets

Floating regasification is a flexible, cost-effective way to receive and process shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Floating regasification is increasingly being used to meet natural gas demand in smaller markets, or as a temporary solution until onshore regasification facilities are built. More »

EIA report highlights top 100 U.S. oil and natural gas fields

The top 100 oil fields in the United States accounted for 20.6 billion barrels of crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves, or 56% of the U.S. total in 2013. The top 100 natural gas fields accounted for 239.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas proved reserves, 68% of the U.S. total. Proved reserves are defined as estimated quantities of oil and natural gas that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. More »

Oil trade off Yemen coast grew by 20% to 4.7 million barrels per day in 2014

While Yemen is not a major oil-producing country, its coast borders the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. This strait is a strategic route for Persian Gulf oil, natural gas, and petroleum product shipments to Europe and North America, as well as European and North African oil exports to Asia. Although the strait is 18 miles wide at its narrowest point, tankers passing through must use two 2-mile-wide shipping channels. More »

UK's renewable energy targets drive increases in U.S. wood pellet exports

In 2014, almost three-quarters of all U.S. wood pellet exports were delivered to the United Kingdom (UK), mainly for the purpose of generating electricity. Overall, U.S. wood pellet exports increased by nearly 40% between 2013 and 2014, from 3.2 million short tons to 4.4 million short tons, as the United States continues to be the largest wood pellet exporter in the world. More »

Increasing domestic production of crude oil reduces net petroleum imports

In its recently released Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015) Reference case, EIA expects U.S. crude oil production to rise through 2020 as oil prices recover from their steep decline, reducing net petroleum (crude oil and petroleum products) imports. AEO 2015 explores the effects of domestic crude oil production under various assumptions of world oil prices and domestic resource availability. More »

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increase in past two years

For the second year in a row, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States have increased. However, unlike 2013, when emissions and gross domestic product (GDP) grew at similar rates (2.5% and 2.2%, respectively), 2014's CO2 emissions growth rate of 0.7% was much smaller than the 2014 GDP growth rate of 2.4%. More »

New maps highlight geologic characteristics of U.S. tight oil, shale plays

EIA is currently in the process of updating maps of major tight oil and shale gas plays, including the Eagle Ford and Marcellus plays, which will help to better characterize the geology of key areas of production in the United States. These maps focus on shale and tight oil plays, and characterize plays based on geologic characteristics, including rock type and age. More »

Households with more vehicles travel more

Based on data from the National Household Travel Survey, households with more vehicles not only travel more, but often put more miles on their most-used vehicle compared to households with fewer vehicles. Households with just one vehicle drove an average of 10,600 miles, while households with six or more vehicles traveled a total of 57,700 miles. Sixty-eight percent of households have either one or two cars. More »

U.S. energy imports and exports to come into balance for first time since 1950s

Projections in the Annual Energy Outlook 2015, released April 14, show the potential to eliminate net U.S. energy imports sometime between 2020 and 2030. This reflects changes in both supply and demand, as continued growth in oil and natural gas production and the use of renewables combine with demand-side efficiencies to moderate demand growth. The United States has been a net importer of energy since the 1950s. More »

EIA's Annual Energy Outlook will be released later today

At 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, EIA will release the Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015), which presents long-term projections of energy supply, demand, and prices through 2040. The analysis in AEO2015 focuses on six cases: Reference, Low and High Economic Growth, Low and High Oil Price, and High Oil and Gas Resource. More »

Household spending on gasoline and public transit varies by region, income

Households in different regions of the United States have similar average combined spending on gasoline and public transit, but the composition of that spending varies significantly across regions. In 2013, the most recent year of data from the Labor Department's Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), the average household spent $3,148 annually on gasoline and public transit. More »

U.S. household gasoline expenditures expected to fall in 2015

The average U.S. household expenditure on motor gasoline in 2015 is expected to be about $1,817, the lowest level in more than a decade. This level is about $700 less than average household gasoline expenditures in 2014. Actual spending can vary based on driving-related factors, some of which depend on demographic considerations. As one might expect, households with more people tend to spend more on gasoline. More »

California's continued drought, reduced snowpack mean lower hydropower output

Earlier this month, California Governor Jerry Brown enacted mandatory water restrictions for the first time in the state's history. While the executive order doesn't directly address hydropower generation and instead focuses on water use in cities and towns, the drought that began in 2011 has had a noticeable effect on hydropower. Furthermore, reduced levels of snowpack likely mean that hydropower output will be low throughout the summer. More »

Summer gasoline prices to be down more than $1 from last summer

U.S. drivers are projected to pay an average of $2.45/gallon (gal) for regular grade gasoline this summer (April through September), according to EIA's Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook released yesterday. This year's projected average summer price is down from a $3.59/gal average during summer 2014. More »

U.S. remained world's largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2014

The United States remained the world's top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2014, according to EIA estimates. U.S. hydrocarbon production continues to exceed that of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, the second- and third-largest producers, respectively. For the United States and Russia, total petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbon production, in energy content terms, is almost evenly split between petroleum and natural gas. Saudi Arabia's production heavily favors petroleum. More »

EIA assesses options for processing additional U.S. light tight oil production

With the growth in U.S. production of light tight oil (LTO) in recent years, petroleum refiners in the United States have been processing greater volumes of LTO. To date, increased volumes of domestic LTO have mainly been accommodated with no- and low-cost options such as reducing light crude oil imports, increasing refinery utilization rates, making incremental efficiency improvements (crude unit debottlenecking), and displacing medium crude oil imports. More »

Nonhydro electricity storage increasing as new policies are implemented

Although pumped hydroelectric storage makes up most of the total electricity storage capacity in the United States, nonhydro storage has doubled in electric power sector capacity from 160 megawatts (MW) to nearly 350 MW over the past five years. More »

Financial hedging helps some producers mitigate effect of falling oil prices

The decline in crude oil prices since last summer has had a direct impact on oil producers' sales revenue, but hedging strategies have lessened the effects of lower prices on some producers' total revenue. Oil producers who adopt hedging strategies can reduce their price risk and generate smoother financial outcomes in unstable markets. A common hedging practice is to sell futures and swaps to lock in desired prices for future production, a practice that can shield producers' revenue from decreasing prices. More »

Updated geologic maps provide greater detail for Marcellus formation

Natural gas production from the Marcellus shale formation in the Appalachian basin increased to 14.4 Bcf/d in January 2015, accounting for more than 36% of shale gas production and more than 18% of total dry natural gas production in the United States. Recent updates to EIA's maps and geologic information for the Marcellus shale play help to characterize the formation's structure, thickness, and extent. More »