2024 was a year of notable accomplishments. Check out the highlights of EIA products and programs this year.
Improved efficiency is enabling record U.S. crude oil production from fewer rigs
Note: The production values do not include Alaska or offshore production.
Crude oil production in the U.S. Lower 48 (L48) states, which excludes Alaska and offshore production, reached a record 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in November 2024, according to our estimate in the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) published on December 10. Crude oil production in the L48 states increased 3% year over year despite fewer active rigs in most major producing regions, demonstrating gains in operational efficiency.
Read More ›Virginia was the top net electricity recipient of any state in 2023
Electricity routinely flows among the Lower 48 states, with almost 10% of U.S. electricity generation traded across state lines. Generation of electricity exceeds its consumption in 25 states, and excess electricity is transmitted across state lines. In 2023, utilities in Virginia brought in the most electricity from other states, with 50.1 million megawatthours (MWh) in net electricity interstate receipts, or 36% of the state’s total electricity supply. Generators in Pennsylvania moved the most electricity outside state borders in 2023, with 83.4 million MWh of power shipped out, or 26% of generation in Pennsylvania.
Read More ›Tags: states, electricity, map, generation, consumption/demand, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Illinois, California
India to surpass China as the top source of global oil consumption growth in 2024 and 2025
India has emerged as the leading source of growth in global oil consumption in 2024 and 2025, overtaking China this year, according to our December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). China’s oil consumption grew by more than India’s in almost every year from 1998 through 2023, with China’s oil consumption regularly growing more than any other country during those years.
Read More ›What are gasoline sulfur credits, and how do they work?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Gasoline Sulfur program sets limits on the sulfur content of gasoline sold in the United States, with the aim of reducing a variety of vehicle emissions. The program relies on tradable credits that allow U.S. refiners and gasoline importers to reach compliance with sulfur specifications. For the second year in a row, in 2023, gasoline suppliers obtained and retired more sulfur credits than they generated, a trend that could increase supplier compliance costs and the price of octane in gasoline if it continues.
Read More ›Above-average hurricane activity disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure in 2024
Note: Data include production from U.S. Gulf of Mexico fields in federal waters.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which ran from June 1 through November 30, exhibited above-average activity with more named storms and hurricanes than usual, including several that disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure, primarily on the Gulf Coast and in the Southeast. Energy impacts from hurricanes this season were most notable in electricity markets, although Hurricanes Francine, Helene, and Rafael forced some oil and natural gas production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut in.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, weather, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum
What is the shoulder season in electricity markets?
Electricity consumption in the U.S. Lower 48 states is highly seasonal; the demand for electricity peaks in the summer and the winter in response to more extreme temperatures and decreases in the spring and fall, in the so-called shoulder seasons, when weather is generally milder. Electric utilities and owners of power-generating assets perform maintenance on power plants during shoulder seasons because of less electricity demand that means that the system generally doesn’t need to be operating at full capacity.
Read More ›Tags: generation, consumption/demand, electricity
U.S. natural gas consumption reaches new highs driven by the electric power sector
This TIE has been updated to correct a chart.
Note: other=natural gas volumes consumed as transportation fuel, Bcf/d=billion cubic feet per day
U.S. natural gas consumption grew by 1% to reach a new annual high of 89.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Annual, and continued growing in the first nine months of 2024. The 1% increase in natural gas consumption in 2023 was driven by a 6.7% (2.2 Bcf/d) increase in consumption in the electric power sector, the largest natural gas consuming sector. U.S. consumption of natural gas for power generation averaged 35.4 Bcf/d, or 40% of U.S. natural gas consumed in 2023.
Read More ›Henry Hub daily natural gas spot price reached all-time lows in November
Note: Prices are adjusted for inflation based on the October 2024 Consumer Price Index.
The U.S. benchmark Henry Hub daily natural gas price fell to $1.21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on November 8 and November 11, 2024, an all-time low in inflation-adjusted dollars. Four of the record-low daily prices when adjusting for inflation occurred in November 2024, and the remaining six occurred in 2024 as well. The Henry Hub spot price in November averaged $2.12/MMBtu, the lowest average price for that month ever when adjusting for inflation.
Read More ›Tags: Henry Hub, natural gas, spot prices
Improving well productivity helps U.S. oil companies increase production at a lower cost
Updated December 12, 2024 to correct units of measure in the third chart.
Note: Permian crude oil production shows monthly data smoothed over a 12-month period.
Second-quarter 2024 financial results for 34 publicly traded U.S. oil exploration and production (E&P) companies suggest increasing well productivity is helping these companies reduce production costs on a per barrel basis and freeing up cash for other uses such as dividends and share repurchases.
Read More ›Tags: wells, production/supply, oil/petroleum, crude oil, liquid fuels, rig count, Permian
Five states drove record U.S. natural gas production in 2023
Note: 2024 YTD=Jan–Aug
Five states produced more than 70% of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023. Texas accounted for 28% of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Monthly, followed by Pennsylvania (18%), Louisiana (10%), West Virginia (8%), and New Mexico (8%). Even though production slowed in 2024, output from these five states continued to make up most—73%—of marketed U.S. natural gas this year.
Read More ›California law and refinery closure reflect ongoing challenges for the state’s fuel market
On October 14, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed bill Abx2-1 into law, empowering California regulators to set and adjust minimum petroleum product inventory levels for refiners in the state, in part to address the state’s fuel price volatility. Shortly after, refiner Phillips 66 announced plans to close its Wilmington refinery in Los Angeles by the end of 2025, citing uncertainty surrounding the long-term sustainability of the refinery.
Read More ›Argentina’s crude oil and natural gas production near record highs
Crude oil and natural gas production in Argentina are both nearing record highs, driven by increasing output from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, which is offsetting declining output from conventional oil and natural gas fields. From January 2021 through September 2024, crude oil production in Argentina increased by 50%, and natural gas production rose by 27%, lifting output of both fuels near the records set in the early 2000s, according to data from the country’s energy ministry, the Secretaría de Energía de la República Argentina (SESCO).
Read More ›Tags: Argentina, crude oil, natural gas, production/supply
U.S. share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales reached a record in the third quarter
This TIE has been updated to reflect a data correction.
Note: EV=electric vehicles, including both battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
The share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales in the United States increased again in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), reaching a record. Combined sales of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increased from 19.1% of total new light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales in the United States in 2Q24 to 21.2% in 3Q24, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence.
Read More ›Tags: vehicles
Small volumes of renewable diesel are now consumed on the U.S. East Coast
Note: Consumption is defined as product supplied plus refinery and blender net inputs.
In 2024, the U.S. East Coast became a consistent destination for small volumes of renewable diesel as a few suppliers and local governments began offering or consuming the fuel. Because no renewable diesel is produced on the East Coast, suppliers and local governments are procuring their supply from a combination of imports and interregional U.S. shipments.
Read More ›U.S. inventories enter the winter with the most natural gas since 2016
Working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 states ended the natural gas injection season with 3,922 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to estimates based on data from our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on November 7. U.S. inventories are starting winter 2024–25 with the most natural gas since 2016. Inventories are currently 6% above the five-year (2019–23) average, despite less-than-average injections into storage throughout the entire injection season, which runs April 1 through October 31. Less natural gas than the five-year average was injected in nearly every week during the 2024 injection season, in part because starting inventories were relatively full.
Read More ›Tags: inventories/stocks, weather, natural gas, storage