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 […]
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 […]
Global refinery margins fall to multiyear seasonal lows in September
Refinery margins for petroleum refiners across the world are shrinking, indicating reduced profitability from refining crude oil and selling petroleum products. Declining margins are the result of relatively weak demand for petroleum products even as global refining capacity increases.
Fewer tankers transit the Red Sea in 2024
The amount of crude oil and oil products flowing through the Bab el-Mandeb, the southern chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, decreased by more than 50% in the first eight months of 2024.
U.S. hourly electricity demand peaked in July with widespread heatwaves
Last summer, U.S. electricity demand in the Lower 48 states was greatest at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 15, 2024, when it reached about 745 gigawatthours (GWh), based on data in our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. In our analysis, we calculate each day’s peak according to the hour with the highest electricity demand. […]
Hurricane Milton nears landfall on Florida’s west coast, disrupts energy infrastructure
As of 8:00 a.m. eastern time on October 9, Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday as a major hurricane on the west coast of Florida with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, creating the potential for significant disruptions to energy infrastructure.
Household heating expenditures expected to remain about the same or less than last winter
As we explain in our October 2024 Winter Fuels Outlook, we expect that most U.S. households are likely to spend about the same or less on energy than they did last winter, depending on a household’s main space heating fuel and the region where they live. We expect that lower prices this winter will be […]
U.S. natural gas-fired electricity generation set new daily records in summer 2024
U.S. natural gas-fired power plants generated more than 7 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity on August 2, 2024, according to our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor, making up almost half of all electricity generated in the contiguous United States that day.
EIA now publishes additional U.S. biofuel and distillate forecasts
Biofuels are making up an increasing share of total distillate fuel oil consumed in the United States. Beginning in the September 2024 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we began publishing forecasts for several new series that help to better capture how biofuels are being consumed and overall demand for distillate fuel oil, a classification of petroleum […]
Distillate fuel oil demand will increase in the fall because of the agricultural harvest
We expect distillate fuel oil consumption to increase in the fall as diesel-powered agricultural equipment is used to harvest and transport crops. The harvest tends to peak in mid-October and continue through November, when the start of the winter home heating season also supports distillate fuel oil demand. With early indications that the 2024 harvest […]