U.S. coal-fired generation declining after brief rise last year
We expect 6% less U.S. coal-fired generation in 2022 than in 2021, according to our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Although coal-fired generation declined each year between 2014 and 2020, it rose 16% in 2021 as a result of increased electricity demand and higher natural gas prices following the pandemic. Despite natural gas prices remaining […]
Decline in drilled but uncompleted wells may limit future crude oil production growth
According to our Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), more wells were completed than were drilled in the United States from July 2020 through September 2022 (the latest month for which data are available). As a result, the number of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) in the United States fell to 4,333 as of September 2022, the […]
As much as 15 million barrels of crude oil sold from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a notice of sale of as much as 15 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) on October 18, 2022, to help address the market supply disruption caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and to help lower energy costs. The sale was held […]
Homes and buildings in the West and Northeast have the largest share of small-scale solar
In 2020, 3.7% of U.S. single-family homes, including mobile homes, generated electricity from small-scale solar systems (solar panels installed on a home or building), according to our 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). In 2018, 1.6% of U.S. commercial buildings had small-scale solar generation, according to our 2018 Commercial Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS).
In 2021, both U.S. natural gas production and exports set new records
In 2021, both U.S. natural gas marketed production and natural gas exports established new records. Marketed, or wet, natural gas production—which includes both dry natural gas and natural gas plant liquids (NGPLs) such as ethane and propane—grew 3% in 2021 after declining in 2020. U.S. natural gas exports, which have more than doubled since 2017, […]
Households primarily heating with heating oil or propane will likely pay more this winter
According to our 2022 Winter Fuels Outlook, we expect that households that use heating oil as the primary fuel for space heating will spend 27% more money on heating this winter than last winter, in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation). Higher prices for heating oil, combined with greater heating demand due to colder temperatures, […]
95% of the fuel ethanol moved in the United States in the first half of 2022 moved by rail
Fuel ethanol, a biofuel most commonly mixed with finished motor gasoline, is second only to coal as the most-transported fuel by rail. According to our Petroleum Supply Monthly, 95% of all U.S. fuel ethanol deliveries between regions in the first half of 2022 were by rail. The majority of the U.S. capacity to produce fuel […]
Coal shipments to U.S. power plants fell by more than half between 2010 and 2021
U.S. power plants received 449 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2021, less than half of the 957 MMst they received in 2010. Coal shipments to U.S. power plants declined over the past decade as coal-fired generation in the country fell and coal-fired power plants shut down.
U.S. natural gas bills will increase in all regions this winter
In our latest Winter Fuels Outlook, we forecast that U.S. households that primarily use natural gas for space heating will spend an average of $931 on heating this winter (October�March), which is 28% (or $206) more than last year.
Daily U.S. summer nuclear capacity outages were 19% lower this summer than last summer
Daily U.S. nuclear capacity outages averaged 2.5 gigawatts (GW) during the summer of 2022 (June 1 through August 31), nearly 19% lower than the 3.1 GW average in summer 2021. Summer nuclear capacity outages were lowest in mid-August, averaging 1.0 GW, and highest in June, averaging 3.8 GW.