California consumers respond to appeals for electricity conservation during heat wave
During an extreme heat wave in early September, California’s power grid had trouble meeting record-breaking electricity demand as consumers turned up their air conditioning to keep cool. To avoid rolling blackouts, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the grid for most of the state, and state officials issued appeals to consumers throughout the […]
U.S. LNG imports reached 15-year lows first-half 2022, displaced by natural gas production
In the first six months of 2022, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports were the lowest in at least 15 years, averaging 0.08 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), compared with the five-year (2017–21) average of 0.2 Bcf/d for the same period. LNG imports usually peak in the winter months (October–March), and most natural gas […]
The United States exported record amounts of petroleum products in the first half of 2022
In the first half of 2022 (January—June), U.S. exports of petroleum products averaged nearly 6 million barrels per day (b/d), the most first-half-of-year exports in Petroleum Supply Monthly data, going back to 1973. U.S. petroleum product exports increased in the first half of 2022 by 11% (596,000 b/d) compared with the first half of 2021—the […]
State gasoline taxes varied widely across the United States in July
In the most recent update of our table of federal and state motor fuel taxes, state gasoline taxes ranged from as low as 8.95 cents per gallon (/gal) in Alaska to as high as 65.1 cents/gal in California on July 1, 2022. Compared with January 2022, 13 states changed some part of their gasoline taxes.
China increased electricity generation annually from 2000 to 2020
China has steadily increased its electricity generation over the past 20 years, reaching 7,600 terawatthours (TWh) in 2020 from 1,280 TWh in 2000, according to our recently updated Country Analysis Brief: China. Despite COVID-19 mitigation efforts in 2020, China still expanded its electricity generation by 5% in 2020.
California fuel mix changes in response to September heat wave
An extreme heat wave affected California the week of September 4, 2022, driving record-breaking demand for electricity to meet increased air-conditioning use. On September 6, a new record was set in the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) territory.
The Waha Hub natural gas price continues to fall below the Henry Hub price
Since late 2021, the difference has been widening between the natural gas price at the Waha Hub in West Texas and the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana. The price of natural gas traded at the Waha Hub, which is near production from the Permian Basin, averaged $1.43 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) less […]
Nuclear power provided about 10% of California’s total electricity supply in 2021
In 2021, three nuclear power plants supplied about 10% of California’s electricity. Diablo Canyon, located in San Luis Obispo County, is California’s last operating nuclear power plant, and it supplied over 8% of California’s electricity in 2021. The remaining nuclear electricity supply was imported from the Palo Verde Generating Station in Arizona and the Columbia […]
EIA forecasts East Coast gasoline inventories will build by the end of 2022
In our September 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook, we forecast that monthly East Coast gasoline inventories will generally increase from July’s multiyear lows. We forecast gasoline inventories will build by the end of 2022 and remain higher than July’s low throughout 2023.
More natural gas rigs are now operating in the United States than before the pandemic
U.S. natural gas producers are operating more drilling rigs now than at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Before the pandemic, the number of operating rigs in the United States had generally been declining. On January 31, 2020—when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first declared a public health emergency […]