U.S. refinery capacity decreased during 2021 for second consecutive year
Operable atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity, our primary measure of refinery capacity in the United States, totaled 17.9 million barrels per calendar day as of January 1, 2022, down 1% from the beginning of 2021. According to our annual Refinery Capacity Report, 2021 was the second consecutive year of decreasing refinery capacity.
Significant volumes of gasoline and distillate move from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast
The U.S. Gulf Coast is a key supplier of motor gasoline and distillate fuel to the U.S. East Coast. During March 2022, the East Coast received an average of 1.9 million barrels per day (b/d) of gasoline and 0.9 million b/d of distillate by pipeline, tanker, and barge from the Gulf Coast.
Tags: gasoline, Gulf Coast, distillate fuel, liquid fuels, East Coast
In Colombia, natural gas consumption has been exceeding production
In 2020, when drought resulted in decreased hydroelectric power, Colombia imported 14.2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, which helped the country meet natural gas demand for electricity, according to our recently updated Colombia Country Analysis Brief.
EIA estimates show a decrease in global surplus crude oil production capacity in 2022
Our new report, titled Global Surplus Crude Oil Production Capacity, provides estimates of global surplus crude oil production capacity in both OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries. Preliminary estimates for these data show that, as of May 2022, surplus capacity in non-OPEC countries decreased by 80% compared with 2021. The data show that, in 2021, 1.4 million barrels per day (b/d) of surplus production capacity was available in non-OPEC countries, about 60% of which was in Russia. As of May 2022, we estimate that all surplus production capacity in Russia was eliminated due to the sanctions implemented after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We determined that excess oil production capacity declined in other non-OPEC producing countries as well. We estimate that, as of May 2022, producers in non-OPEC countries had about 280,000 b/d of surplus production capacity.
Tags: production/supply, OPEC, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum, capacity
Fire causes shutdown of Freeport liquefied natural gas export terminal
On June 8, 2022, a fire at Freeport LNG‘s natural gas liquefaction plant on the Gulf Coast in South Texas led to the full shutdown of the facility. The shutdown of Freeport LNG will reduce total U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by approximately 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), or 17% of total U.S. LNG export capacity.
Two new U.S. crude oil pipeline projects have been completed this year
As of June 3, 2022, pipeline companies completed two crude oil pipeline projects in the United States, according to our recently updated Liquids Pipeline Projects Database. No new hydrocarbon gas liquids or petroleum product pipeline projects were completed in the first five months of 2022.
EIA expects nine new Gulf of Mexico natural gas and crude oil fields to start in 2022
In our June 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that new fields coming online in 2022 will account for 5% of natural gas production and 14% of crude oil production in the U.S. Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by the end of 2023. We expect that GOM natural gas production will average 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023, down 0.1 Bcf/d from 2022. We expect that GOM crude oil production will average 1.8 million barrels per day (MMb/d) in 2023, about the same as in 2022. Currently, no GOM fields are scheduled to start up in 2023.
EIA forecasts growing liquid fuels production in Brazil, Canada, and China through 2023
In our June 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that liquid fuels production in Brazil, Canada, and China will increase this year and next, contributing to growth in overall non-OPEC petroleum production. We forecast that petroleum production in the combined non-OPEC countries, excluding the Unites States and Russia, will increase by 3% (0.9 million barrels per day [b/d]) in 2022 and by 2% (0.8 million b/d) in 2023, compared with an increase of less than 1% (0.2 million b/d) in 2021.
EIA expects significant increases in wholesale electricity prices this summer
Note: Wholesale electricity price data represent monthly average locational marginal prices during on-peak hours (Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.).
In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect prices this summer in wholesale electricity markets will significantly increase over last summer's prices. We forecast that electricity prices in the Northeast regions (ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM markets) will exceed $100 per megawatthour (MWh) between June and August 2022, up from an average of about $50/MWh last summer. We forecast summer electricity prices will average $98/MWh in California's CAISO market and $90/MWh in the ERCOT market in Texas.
Most combined-cycle power plants have duct burners that add energy to the turbine exhaust
Most combined-cycle power plants in the United States have duct burners that help them make additional use of combustion turbine exhaust gases. Combined-cycle power plants are the most prevalent technology used to generate electricity in the United States, and of the 278 gigawatts (GW) of combined-cycle power plants, about 75% (208 GW) have duct burners located between the combustion and steam turbine components.