New import duties drive biomass-based diesel imports down in 2017

U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel, totaled 14.1 million barrels in 2017, a 36% decrease from 2016. Although increasing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets have driven increased biomass-based diesel demand in recent years, imports fell in 2017 largely because of U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) import duties imposed on foreign biodiesel volumes sourced from Argentina and Indonesia, two of the leading exporters of biodiesel. More »

U.S. exported a record amount of fuel ethanol in 2017

The United States exported nearly 1.4 billion gallons of fuel ethanol in 2017, surpassing the previous record of 1.2 billion gallons set in 2011. U.S. imports of ethanol in 2017 increased compared with 2016 but remained relatively small at 77 million gallons, resulting in the United States being a net exporter of ethanol for the eighth consecutive year. More »

Renewable energy subsidies have declined as tax credits, other policies diminish

Federal subsidies for renewable energy-including biofuels for transportation use and renewable generation of electricity-dropped to $6.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2016, a 56% decline from FY 2013. Renewable subsidies in FY 2010 and FY 2013 were approximately $15 billion, more than double FY 2016 levels, as support from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) lessened. More »

Federal financial interventions and subsidies in U.S. energy markets declined since 2013

EIA has updated its report on federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets, covering the 2016 U.S. government fiscal year (FY). Subsidies for many energy categories have declined since FY 2013, when spending related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was at or near its highest levels. More »

Coal power generation declines in United Kingdom as natural gas, renewables grow

In the United Kingdom, electricity produced from coal declined from 42% of total electricity generation in 2012 to 7% in 2017. According to U.K. National Grid data, on April 21, 2017, the country went 24 hours without any electricity generated from coal for the first time since the 1880s. In January 2018, the U.K. government laid out an implementation plan to shut down all coal-fired electricity generation plants by 2025 that do not have carbon capture and storage technology. More »

Pennsylvania’s natural gas production continues to increase

Pennsylvania’s marketed natural gas production averaged a record 15 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, 3% higher than the 2016 level. This production is largely from shale plays in the Appalachian Basin. Pennsylvania accounted for 19% of total U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2017 and produced more natural gas than any other state except Texas. More »

Fuel cell power plants are used in diverse ways across the United States

At the end of 2016, the United States had 56 large-scale fuel cell generating units greater than 1 megawatt (MW), totaling 137 megawatts (MW) of net summer capacity. Most of this capacity (85%) has come online since 2013. Fuel cells collectively provided 810,000 megawatthours (MWh) of electricity in 2016, representing 0.02% of total U.S. electricity generation. More »

U.S. coal exports increased by 61% in 2017 as exports to Asia more than doubled

The United States exported 97.0 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2017, a 61% (36.7 MMst) increase from the 2016 level. Exports to Asia more than doubled from 15.7 MMst in 2016 to 32.8 MMst in 2017, although Europe continues to be the largest recipient of U.S. coal exports. More »

The U.S. is an active participant in petroleum markets as both an importer and exporter

U.S. net petroleum trade, including crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas plant liquids, has fallen in recent years, reaching 3.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017. This is the lowest level of net petroleum trade (imports minus exports) since 1971. At the same time, total U.S. gross petroleum trade (imports and exports) has reached an all-time high of 16.3 million b/d in 2017. More »

Customer spending on electricity expected to increase this summer

EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts the typical U.S. household will spend an average of $426 for electricity this summer (June–August), an increase of about 3% from the average summer expenditures in 2017. The expected increase in electricity bills is a result of forecast higher retail electricity prices and slightly higher projected electricity use to meet increased cooling demand. More »

U.S. natural gas production and consumption increase in nearly all AEO2018 cases

EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018) projects that U.S. dry natural gas production will increase through 2050 across a wide variety of alternative assumptions about the future. In the Reference case, which is based on current laws and regulations, production grows 59% from 2017 to 2050, starting at 73.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017 and reaching 118 Bcf/d in 2050. More »

Natural gas inventories end heating season at the lowest level since 2014

Working natural gas in storage in the United States as of March 31, 2018, the end of the 2017-2018 heating season, totaled 1,351 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to EIA’s estimate based on its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. This is the lowest level for U.S. working gas stocks at this time of year since March 31, 2014, when working gas stocks were much lower, at 837 Bcf following the 2013-2014 heating season. More »

Summer gasoline prices expected to be highest in four years

EIA forecasts that drivers in the United States will pay an average of $2.74 per gallon (gal) this summer for regular gasoline, the highest average summer gasoline price in four years, according to EIA's Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook. EIA's forecast gasoline price for summer 2018 (April through September) is 26 cents/gal higher than the average price last summer, largely reflecting changes in crude oil prices. More »

U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude oil production to continue at record highs through 2019

U.S. crude oil production in the Federal Gulf of Mexico (GOM) increased slightly in 2017, reaching 1.65 million b/d, the highest annual level on record. Although briefly hindered by platform outages and pipeline issues in December 2017, oil production in the GOM is expected to continue increasing in 2018 and 2019, based on forecasts in the EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). EIA expects the GOM to account for 16% of total U.S. crude oil production in each year. More »

By some measures, U.S. natural gas production set a record in 2017

Two out of three of EIA's measures of natural gas production in the United States set records in 2017. U.S. natural gas production measured as gross withdrawals reached 90.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, the highest volume on record according to EIA's Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas Production Report. More »

U.S. crude oil production growth projected to be led by light, sweet crude oil

Recent growth in U.S. crude oil production has been primarily light, sweet crude oil, defined as having an API gravity of 35 or higher and sulfur content of 0.3% or less. These light, sweet crudes, which are produced from tight resource formations, accounted for nearly 90% of the 3.1 million barrel per day (b/d) growth in production from 2010 to 2017. More »

About 7% of fossil fuels are consumed for non-combustion use in the United States

While most fossil fuels in the United States are burned, or combusted, to produce heat and power, EIA estimates that the equivalent of about 5.5 quadrillion British thermal units of fossil fuels were consumed for non-combustion purposes in the United States in 2017. Over the past decade, non-combustion consumption of fossil fuels has typically accounted for about 7% of total fossil fuel consumption and about 6% of total energy consumption in the United States. More »

Average frequency and duration of electric distribution outages vary by states

Interruptions in electricity service vary by frequency and duration across the many electric distribution systems that serve about 145 million customers in the United States. In 2016, customers experienced an average of 1.3 interruptions and went without power for four hours during the year. More »

U.S. production of crude oil grew 5% in 2017, likely leading to record 2018 production

Annual average U.S. crude oil production reached 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017, an increase of 464,000 b/d from 2016 levels after declining by 551,000 b/d in 2016. In November 2017, monthly U.S. crude oil production reached 10.07 million b/d, the highest monthly level of crude oil production in U.S. history. More »

In 2017, U.S. electricity sales fell by the greatest amount since the recession

U.S. retail electricity sales fell by 80 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2017, the largest drop since the economic recession in 2009. The 2% decrease in 2017 reflects lower retail sales in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors and is largely attributable to milder weather. More »

In 2017, U.S. electricity sales fell by the greatest amount since the recession

U.S. retail electricity sales fell by 80 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2017, the largest drop since the economic recession in 2009. The 2% decrease in 2017 reflects lower retail sales in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors and is largely attributable to milder weather. More »

Natural gas storage design capacity increased slightly in 2017

Over the past four years, relatively little new underground natural gas storage capacity was built in the Lower 48 states. EIA measures natural gas storage capacity in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated maximum working gas volume (or demonstrated peak). In 2017, design capacity grew by about 1%, and demonstrated peak fell by 1%. More »