U.S. dry natural gas production set monthly records in 2022; we forecast an annual record
U.S. dry natural gas production has increased during 2022, averaging more than 100 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in October and November and exceeding pre-pandemic monthly production records from 2019. We forecast that U.S. production of dry natural gas will average about 100.0 Bcf/d from December through March, down about 0.5 Bcf/d from November. This forecast production decrease is primarily due to weather, specifically the possibility of extreme winter weather events and freeze-offs. Mild weather in key producing regions could prevent those declines.
U.S. battery storage capacity will increase significantly by 2025
Developers and power plant owners plan to significantly increase utility-scale battery storage capacity in the United States over the next three years, reaching 30.0 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2025, based on our latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory.
Tags: generation, electricity, power plants, solar, storage capacity
Coal was the largest source of electricity generation for 15 states in 2021
In 15 U.S. states last year, coal was used to generate electricity more than any other energy source. Twenty years earlier, in 2001, coal was the largest source of electricity generation in 32 states. The United States has shifted away from coal-fired generation since it peaked in 2007 and toward natural gas and renewables.
Tags: generation, coal, electricity, states, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, map
Product Highlight: EIA’s Hourly Electric Grid Monitor
Our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor provides up-to-the-hour information on electricity demand across the U.S. electric grid. Large-scale, planned or unplanned, events that affect normal routines, ranging from major holidays to the COVID-19 pandemic, can change the pattern of electricity usage in the country.
Less U.S. jet fuel consumption on average in 2022 than in 2019
Note: Consumption is expressed using product supplied data.
Average jet fuel consumption in the United States so far in 2022 has been consistently below 2019, although airline passenger counts in the United States have nearly returned to 2019 levels in recent months, based on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reports. So far in 2022, jet fuel consumption has averaged 1.5 million barrels per day (b/d), according to weekly product supplied data reported in our Weekly Petroleum Status Report. By comparison, consumption of jet fuel in all of 2019 averaged 1.7 million b/d.
West Coast gasoline prices have been volatile this year
Regular retail gasoline prices on the West Coast had substantial price swings this year, especially in the fall. According to our Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, retail gasoline prices on the West Coast averaged $5.82 per gallon (gal) in June, then decreased to average $4.94/gal in August, before increasing to average $5.69/gal the week of October 3. By the week of November 28, 2022, West Coast gasoline prices had fallen to $4.59/gal. This year’s gasoline price volatility reflects how sensitive West Coast prices can be to relatively small changes in refinery output and import levels.
Tags: West Coast, gasoline, liquid fuels, prices, inventories/stocks
More ethanol was blended into U.S. gasoline last summer than ever before
Last summer, when the price of fuel ethanol was lower than the petroleum component of gasoline, record amounts of ethanol were blended into the gasoline sold in the United States (blend rates). The summer 2022 fuel ethanol blend rate from June through August reached 10.5%, the highest blend rate calculated, based on our data going back to 2007.
Tags: weather, gasoline, liquid fuels, ethanol, petroleum products
U.S. wind generation falls into regional patterns by season
Wind plant performance—how much electricity a wind plant generates compared with its maximum possible generation—depends almost entirely on the availability of wind resources, which vary depending on both the time of year and the geographic region.
Tags: generation, electricity, renewables, wind, map
Natural gas production and consumption has increased in Egypt and Israel for 20 years
Natural gas has played an increasingly important role in both Egypt’s and Israel’s economies over the past 20 years, and both consumption and production have grown substantially in those countries. Egypt’s and Israel’s natural gas delivery systems have become increasingly interdependent in terms of using Egypt’s LNG export infrastructure and natural gas feedstock. Egypt has two operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, which both countries use to export natural gas, according to our updated Eastern Mediterranean Energy profile. Although both countries export some natural gas, growth in domestic use of natural gas over the past 20 years has limited the volume of natural gas available for export. A number of recent discoveries, however, may make more natural gas available for export in the future.
Europe’s LNG import capacity set to expand by one-third by end of 2024
Note: Map displays existing and under construction LNG import capacity in the European Union and UK as of November 2022. Capacity under construction is expected to come online in 2023–24. LNG = liquefied natural gas.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) will expand by 34%, or 6.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), by 2024 compared with 2021, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) and trade press data. Expansions of import, or regasification, capacity will total 5.3 Bcf/d by the end of next year and grow further by an additional 1.5 Bcf/d by the end of 2024.