Drought conditions reduce hydropower generation, particularly in the Pacific Northwest
In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that electricity generation from U.S. hydropower plants in 2024 will be 13% less than the 10-year average, the least amount of electricity generated from hydropower since 2001. Extreme and exceptional drought conditions have been affecting different parts of the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest, which is home to most U.S. hydropower capacity.
Read More ›Tags: hydroelectric, electricity, generation, Northwest, weather, map
U.S. fuel ethanol exports rise on strong international demand and low U.S. prices
Note: The 2024 annual average is the year-to-date average through August.
U.S. fuel ethanol exporters are on track to export a record amount of the fuel in 2024. The increase in exports this year has largely been driven by demand in countries with biofuel blending mandates and cheaper-than-usual U.S. fuel ethanol prices.
Read More ›Tags: international, prices, United Kingdom, exports/imports, liquid fuels, Colombia, ethanol, India, biofuels
U.S. summer nuclear outages declined in 2024, returning to 2022 levels
Average U.S. nuclear capacity outages during the summer of 2024 (June 1 through August 31) decreased to about 2.6 gigawatts (GW) per day from 3.1 GW in 2023, similar to average summer daily outages in 2022. Outages this past summer were highest in mid-July and early August, averaging 3.1 GW per day and peaking at 5.7 GW on the last day of August. More recently, nuclear outages have exceeded the five-year average because of weather-related disruptions and refueling outages.
Read More ›U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals rose 135% from 2014 to 2023
Note: Ethylene derivatives include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene vinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other polymers of ethylene not elsewhere specified or included.
U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals reached an all-time high of 21.6 million metric tons (MMmt) in 2023, up 135% since the United States began exporting ethane in 2014 and 17% more than in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The rapid expansion of U.S. ethane and ethane-based petrochemical exports has been fueled by the growth in domestic ethane production, which has increased with the country’s natural gas production and the buildout of export and production infrastructure.
Read More ›Share of natural gas production in U.S. tight oil plays increased over the last decade
Note: 2024 represents year-to-date data through September. To calculate the barrel of oil equivalent, we use a conversion factor of 6,000 cubic feet of gross natural gas production per 1 barrel of oil.
Natural gas produced from the three largest tight oil-producing plays in the United States has increased in the last decade. Natural gas comprised 40% of total production from the Bakken, the Eagle Ford, and the Permian compared with 29% in 2014.
Read More ›Crude oil imports from Canada reached a record after pipeline expansion
U.S. imports of crude oil from Canada reached a record of 4.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in July 2024 following the expansion of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline. July is the most recent month for which data are available in our Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM).
Read More ›U.S. energy production has increased faster than energy consumption over the past 50 years
Note: Positive net imports mean the United States imported more energy than it exported, while negative net imports mean the United States exported more energy than it imported. Data are for the first seven months of 1974 and 2024. Total energy includes coal, natural gas, petroleum, nuclear, and renewables. See primary energy consumption in the EIA Glossary.
In October 1974, in the wake of the 1973 Oil Embargo, the Federal Energy Administration—the predecessor of the U.S. Department of Energy—published the first issue of the Monthly Energy Review (MER), an overview of the energy produced and consumed in the United States. In the 50 years since that first publication, the U.S. energy sector has transformed.
Read More ›U.S. ethane production reached a record 3.0 million barrels per day in May 2024
U.S. ethane production increased steadily over the last decade and reached a record of 3.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in May 2024. Ethane production in the first half of 2024 (1H24) averaged a record 2.8 million b/d, according to data from our Petroleum Supply Monthly. The increase was driven by more natural gas and ethane production in the Permian Basin, which spans Texas and New Mexico.
Read More ›Tags: ethane, production/supply
U.S. shale natural gas production has declined so far in 2024
Note: The formations included in our U.S. shale natural gas production estimates are determined by identified tight and shale formations. Year-to-date 2024=January–September.
U.S. natural gas production from shale and tight formations, which accounts for 79% of dry natural gas production, decreased slightly in the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. If this trend holds for the remainder of 2024, it would mark the first annual decrease in U.S. shale gas production since we started collecting these data in 2000.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, production/supply, shale
Market dynamics vary at key natural gas pricing hubs
Note: $/MMBtu=dollars per million British thermal units
Pricing hubs provide transactional flexibility to buyers and sellers in the natural gas industry. The integrated North American market has close to 200 pricing hubs, which vary by size, location, type, liquidity, and age. Pricing hubs convey market information and make it easier for buyers and sellers to arrange natural gas deals in physical and financial markets across many time periods: intra-day, daily, weekly, balance-of-month, monthly, seasonally, and annually. Changes in prices at natural gas hubs tend to be reflected in movements in prices at nearby power market hubs or zones. A mix of private price reporting agencies and exchanges offer services and platforms to help buyers, sellers, and market observers obtain pricing information. Pricing hubs are dynamic; new ones are established or are retired based on market conditions and consumer preferences.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, prices, map, infrastructure
U.S. construction costs rose slightly for solar and wind, dropped for natural gas in 2022
The average U.S. construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems and wind turbines in 2022 were close to 2021 costs, while natural gas-fired electricity generators decreased 11%, according to our recently released data. Average construction costs for solar generators increased by 1.7% in 2022, and for wind turbines they increased by 1.6%.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, costs, electric generation, wind, solar, capacity
Four new petroleum liquids pipelines have been completed in the United States since 2023
This TIE was updated with a new web link for the Port Neches Link on October 23, 2024.
Since 2023, pipeline companies have completed four new petroleum liquids pipeline projects in the United States—three crude oil pipeline projects and one hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) project—according to our recently updated Liquids Pipeline Projects Database. No new petroleum product pipeline projects were completed during this period. Petroleum product pipelines carry gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refinery products.
Read More ›Florida’s retail gasoline price stays stable after Hurricane Milton despite shortages
Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s western coast on October 9 as a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane and accompanying rain, winds, and flooding disrupted key gasoline supply chains to the state, leaving hundreds of retail gasoline stations without fuel. However, the average retail price of regular gasoline in Florida has remained relatively stable in the storm’s aftermath, remaining flat at $3.04 per gallon (gal) this week, as supply chains began to recover.
Read More ›U.S. capacity to produce biofuels increased 7% in 2023
Capacity to produce biofuels increased 7% in the United States during 2023, reaching 24 billion gallons per year (gal/y) at the start of 2024, led by a 44% increase in a category we call renewable diesel and other biofuels. Other biofuels includes renewable heating oil, renewable jet fuel (also known as sustainable aviation fuel), and renewable naphtha and gasoline.
Read More ›Tags: renewables, biofuels, ethanol, capacity, production/supply
U.S. coal exports from the Port of Baltimore rebounded two months after bridge collapse
U.S. coal exports from the Port of Baltimore rebounded at the end of May 2024, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Shipments from the port’s two coal-loading terminals had stopped for almost two months following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The main shipping channel into the Port of Baltimore reopened on May 21.
Read More ›Tags: coal, exports/imports