U.S. propane exports have increased every year since 2007
U.S. propane exports averaged a record 1.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2024, the most since we began collecting this data in 1973. U.S. propane exports increased for each of the last 17 years, with growth driven by higher demand in East Asia, mainly China, and a widening propane price differential between U.S. and global benchmarks.
Read More ›Tags: propane, exports/imports, liquid fuels, international
U.S. battery capacity increased 66% in 2024
In the United States, cumulative utility-scale battery storage capacity exceeded 26 gigawatts (GW) in 2024, according to our January 2025 Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. Generators added 10.4 GW of new battery storage capacity in 2024, the second-largest generating capacity addition after solar. Even though battery storage capacity is growing fast, in 2024 it was only 2% of the 1,230 GW of utility-scale electricity generating capacity in the United States.
Read More ›Tags: electricity, storage capacity
First liquefied natural gas cargo produced at Corpus Christi Stage 3 export facility
Note: Commissioning refers to the stage in LNG export facility development from the start of LNG exports to full production capacity. Bcf/d=billion cubic feet per day; LNG=liquefied natural gas
In February 2025, Corpus Christi Stage 3, an expansion of the existing Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, produced its first LNG cargo, according to the developer Cheniere Energy. Corpus Christi Stage 3 started producing LNG in December 2024. The start of LNG exports from Corpus Christi Stage 3 follows shortly after the start of exports from another U.S. LNG export facility—Plaquemines LNG Phase 1—also in December.
Read More ›U.S. butane exports reached a new record in 2024
The United States is exporting record volumes of normal butane as global demand for liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) surges. U.S. normal butane exports averaged nearly 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2024, a 12% increase from the previous year, and have increased every year since 2006.
Read More ›U.S. natural gas-directed rigs decreased for second consecutive year in 2024
The number of rigs deployed to drill for natural gas in the United States decreased over the last two years. U.S. natural gas-directed rigs decreased 32% (50 rigs) between December 2022 and December 2024. This decline has been concentrated in the natural gas-rich Haynesville and Appalachia regions, where the combined natural gas rig count declined by 34% during 2023 (43 rigs) and by 24% during 2024 (21 rigs). The decline in drilling rigs coincides with record-low natural gas prices for most of 2024 and the wider adoption of advanced drilling and completion technologies.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, rig count, Haynesville, Henry Hub
Refinery closures and rising consumption will reduce U.S. petroleum inventories in 2026
In 2026, we forecast that inventories of the three largest transportation fuels in the United States—motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil, and jet fuel—will fall to their lowest levels since 2000 in our February Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Read More ›Pipeline companies deliver most of the U.S. electric power sector's natural gas
Note: Other includes deliveries from storage, renewable natural gas, and liquefied natural gas facilities.
According to our Natural Gas Annual Respondent Query System, 1,653 natural gas delivery companies delivered natural gas to end-use customers in 2023 in the United States. A delivery company is defined as any entity that delivers natural gas directly to end users. Natural gas deliveries by pipeline companies to the electric power sector made up the largest share of deliveries to end-use consumers, accounting for 33% of all natural gas delivered to end-use consumers in 2023.
Read More ›Tags: pipelines, electricity, generation, natural gas
Planned retirements of U.S. coal-fired electric-generating capacity to increase in 2025
Electricity generators plan to retire 12.3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2025, a 65% increase in retirements compared with 2024. Last year, 7.5 GW was retired from the U.S. power grid, the least generation retired since 2011, according to data reported to us in our latest inventory of electric generators. Coal generating capacity accounts for the largest share of planned capacity retirements (66%), followed by natural gas (21%).
Read More ›Tags: coal, natural gas, generation, electricity, retirements, liquid fuels, map, oil/petroleum, capacity
Solar, battery storage to lead new U.S. generating capacity additions in 2025
We expect 63 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity to be added to the U.S. power grid in 2025 in our latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report. This amount represents an almost 30% increase from 2024 when 48.6 GW of capacity was installed, the largest capacity installation in a single year since 2002. Together, solar and battery storage account for 81% of the expected total capacity additions, with solar making up over 50% of the increase.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, generation, electricity, storage, wind, solar, map, capacity
Average state tax rates for retail gasoline and diesel fuel nearly flat since July 2024
As of January 1, 2025, state taxes and fees on gasoline and diesel fuel averaged $0.33 per gallon (gal) of gasoline and $0.35/gal of diesel fuel, according to our table on federal and state motor fuel taxes. Since July 2024, average taxes on both gasoline and diesel have remained nearly flat, increasing less than half of one cent each.
Read More ›Residential energy expenditures have increased with colder weather and higher prices
Data values: Winter Fuels Outlook
Residential energy expenditures for homes heating with natural gas and propane for the current winter (November through March) have grown, and now we expect them to total 10% more than last winter. In our initial Winter Fuels Outlook forecasts published in October 2024, we had expected that homes mainly heating with natural gas would spend between 2% less or 7% more this winter than last, depending on weather conditions. As the winter has progressed and energy prices and consumption have increased beyond our initial expectations, we have revised these forecasts upward.
Read More ›Consumption of renewable diesel continues general growth trend on the U.S. West Coast
Note: Renewable diesel consumption, which is defined as renewable diesel product supplied plus refinery and blender net inputs, is inflated because we do not collect renewable diesel export data. The difference between consumption and the sum of production, imports, and receipts reflects inventory changes.
Renewable diesel is increasingly replacing petroleum diesel on the U.S. West Coast, where state-level policies are attracting new production capacity and shipments to the region. The fuel continues to mostly be consumed in California but is also making up a substantial share of Oregon’s and Washington’s smaller distillate pools, according to quarterly data published by California, Oregon, and Washington.
Read More ›Tags: consumption/demand, renewables, Oregon, diesel, California, states, biofuels, Washington
Petroleum liquids supply growth driven by non-OPEC+ countries in 2025 and 2026
Data values: Non-OPEC Petroleum and Other Liquids Production
Note: The OPEC and OPEC+ data series reflect those countries participating in the OPEC+ agreement. OPEC members Iran, Libya, and Venezuela are exempt from the agreement. Years 2025 and 2026 are forecasts.
We forecast that worldwide production of petroleum and other liquids in 2025 and 2026 will grow more in non-OPEC+ countries than in OPEC+ countries in our February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). We estimate that total world petroleum and other liquids supply increased by about 0.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2024 and will increase by 1.9 million b/d in 2025 and 1.6 million b/d in 2026. Increasing crude oil production from four countries in the Americas—the United States, Guyana, Canada, and Brazil—drives this growth. Because of ongoing production restraint among OPEC+ countries, we forecast the group’s production to grow by 0.1 million b/d in 2025 and 0.6 million b/d in 2026.
Read More ›The cost of transporting coal to the U.S. electric power sector fell slightly in 2023
We released new data on the U.S. electric power sector’s coal transportation costs. The release incorporates final data for 2023 from Form EIA-923, which we collect from electric power plant owners and operators. The data release based on our Form EIA-923 includes tables with costs, in nominal and real (2023) dollars, across regions, states, and modes of transportation. These transportation rates are calculated as a weighted average of the difference between the commodity cost and total delivered cost of coal shipments to plants in the electric power sector. In addition, the rates are based on the primary transport mode that a plant's owner or operator selects, but they may include other secondary or tertiary modes.
Read More ›Tags: coal, electricity, generation, rail, power plants
China’s crude oil imports decreased from a record as refinery activity slowed
Slower oil demand growth in 2024 led to less crude oil processed by China’s refineries and fewer crude oil imports compared with the record high set in 2023. China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, received 11.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2024, down from 11.3 million b/d in 2023. Even though total imports decreased about 2%, imports from some countries increased while others decreased.
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