Beaumont refinery expansion boosts Gulf Coast petroleum refining capacity

On March 16, ExxonMobil announced the beginning of operations at the expansion of its Beaumont refinery, adding 250,000 barrels per day (b/d) of capacity, according to the company’s announcement. The expansion makes the oil refinery one of the largest in the United States as measured by crude oil distillation capacity. According to ExxonMobil, the total capacity of the Beaumont facility is now 630,000 b/d. More »

A mild winter reduced withdrawals from natural gas storage in the U.S. South Central

During this past winter heating season (Nov 1–Mar 31), the amount of natural gas withdrawn from underground storage in the U.S. South Central storage region was among the least on record, at 239 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. Winter heating degree days in the region were 10% below the 10-year (2013–22) average, reducing the need to use natural gas inventories to meet heating demand. Regional natural gas consumption in the residential and commercial sectors was 12% below the five-winter average (from 2017–18 to 2021–22) this winter, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights. More »

U.S. natural gas production and LNG exports will likely grow through 2050 in AEO2023

In our Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023) Reference case, we project U.S. natural gas production to increase 15% and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to increase 152% between 2022 and 2050. We expect natural gas production to rise to 42.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) by 2050. Production growth is largely driven by U.S. LNG exports, which we expect to rise to 10 Tcf by 2050. Natural gas production growth on the Gulf Coast and in the Southwest reflects increased activity in the Haynesville Formation and Permian Basin, which are close to infrastructure connecting natural gas supply to growing LNG export facilities. More »

U.S. coal shipments increased slightly in 2022 as power plants replenished stockpiles

The amount of coal received by power plants in the United States has largely declined over the past decade as coal-fired electricity generation has fallen and many coal-fired power plants have closed. However, slightly more coal was shipped to U.S. power plants in 2022 than in 2021 even though coal-fired generation fell by nearly 8% in 2022. The 8-million-ton increase in coal shipments came as power plants replenished their coal stocks, which had been drawn down in 2021. More »

Less natural gas was withdrawn from storage this winter than in the last seven

Withdrawals of natural gas from U.S. underground storage facilities totaled 1,707 billion cubic feet (Bcf) during the 2022–23 heating season (November 1 to March 31), after subtracting occasional injections, according to our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR). This recent heating season's natural gas withdrawals were the lowest since the 2015–16 winter heating season. After entering the heating season at a 3% deficit to the five-year start-of-winter average, working natural gas in underground storage facilities in the Lower 48 states totaled 1,830 Bcf as of March 31, 2023, exceeding the previous five-year average (2018–22) for that time of year by 19% (294 Bcf). Continued growth in U.S. natural gas production and reduced space heating consumption due to relatively mild winter temperatures accounted for less natural gas withdrawn this winter—despite increased use in electric generation. More »

2018 CBECS used new technology to virtually list buildings and collect data

The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is our sample survey about energy consumption in commercial buildings. Throughout its more than 40-year history, the CBECS has adapted to change. The most recent changes include using satellite images to create a sampling frame, which we use in the process to select the buildings we survey, and giving respondents an option to complete the survey online. More »