Oil company additions to proved reserves in 2017 were the highest since 2013
Note: Rest of world includes associated companies’ reserves with unspecified geographies.
In 2017, a group of the world’s largest publicly traded oil and natural gas producers added more hydrocarbons to their resource base than in any year since 2013, according to the annual reports of 83 exploration and production companies. Collectively, these companies added a net 8.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to their proved reserves during 2017, which totaled 277 billion BOE at the end of the year. Exploration and development (E&D) spending in 2017 increased 11% from 2016 levels but remained 47% lower than 2013 levels.
EIA monthly survey tracks U.S. power plant additions
Note: Other includes hydroelectric, landfill gas, wood/wood waste biomass, petroleum liquids, and other waste biomass.
Every month, EIA collects information about all utility-scale power plants in the United States, including planned projects reported by developers. EIA relies on information reported by developers and plant owners to track electricity generating capacity, upcoming retirements, and planned new capacity on a monthly basis.
Tags: generation, electricity, capacity
State efficiency incentives averaged $24 per customer, ranged from $0 to $128 in 2016
U.S. electric utilities reported spending $3.6 billion on energy efficiency customer incentives in 2016, or an average of $24 per customer, according to EIA’s survey of electric power sales, revenue, and energy efficiency (EIA-861). Energy efficiency spending is reported on an incremental basis, reflecting new programs operating for the first time in 2016 (including start-up costs) or new participants in existing programs.
Tags: states, efficiency, electricity
Ethane production growth led to record U.S. natural gas plant liquids production in 2017
Republished June 21, 2018, to correct the 2018-2019 NGPL production growth.
U.S. natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production has nearly doubled since 2010, outpacing the rate of natural gas production growth and setting an annual record of 3.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017. NGPLs are produced at natural gas processing plants, which separate liquids from raw natural gas to produce pipeline-quality dry natural gas. Marketed natural gas includes both NGPLs and dry natural gas.
Adoption of autonomous vehicles could increase U.S. transportation energy consumption
Autonomous vehicles are one of the main sources of uncertainty in the future of U.S. transportation energy consumption, as autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to change travel behavior, vehicle design, energy efficiency, and vehicle ownership. Analysis in EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018) shows that the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles could increase overall light-duty vehicle travel and, depending on how those vehicles are powered, lead to slightly higher transportation energy consumption.
EIA expects Brent crude prices will average $71 per barrel in 2018, $68 per barrel in 2019
In the June 2018 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts Brent crude oil prices will average $71 per barrel (b) in 2018 and $68/b in 2019. The updated 2019 forecast price is $2/b higher than in the May STEO. Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $77/b in May, an increase of $5/b from April and the highest monthly average price since November 2014. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices are forecast to average almost $7/b lower than Brent prices in 2018 and $6/b lower in 2019.
Tags: Brent, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum, OPEC
Development of Alaska’s ANWR would increase U.S. crude oil production after 2030
In December 2017, the passage of Public Law 115-97 required the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to establish and administer a competitive oil and natural gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in and from the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Previously, ANWR was effectively under a drilling moratorium. Three sensitivity cases in EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2018 explore the effect of this law on U.S. crude oil production.
Tags: production/supply, AEO2012, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum, Alaska, AEO2018
Rise in U.S. exports of jet fuel driven by Latin American and Caribbean countries
The United States exported 186,000 barrels per day (b/d) of jet fuel in 2017, the eleventh consecutive year of increasing gross jet fuel exports. Almost two-thirds (62%) of U.S. jet fuel exports went to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Mexico. Relatively high domestic production and a growing international aviation industry have established the United States as a net exporter of jet fuel for the seventh straight year.
Power marketers are increasing their share of U.S. retail electricity sales
Competitive power marketers supplied about 21% of the retail electricity sold in the United States in 2016, up from 11% in 2005. The share of retail electricity sales of regulated investor-owned utilities fell from 62% in 2005 to 52% in 2016. This shift was driven by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which repealed the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 and closed the original federal regulatory structure established by New Deal-era legislation, which was a combination of public financial reforms and regulations in the 1930s.
Tags: generation, electricity
Global LNG trade continues to grow, especially from Australia and the United States
Republished June 14, 2018, to remove a figure.
Global trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached 38.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, a 10% (3.5 Bcf/d) increase from 2016 and the largest annual volume increase since 2010, according to the Annual Report on LNG trade by the International Association of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). In 2017, there were 19 LNG exporting countries and 40 LNG importing countries. Australia and the United States were among the countries with the largest increases (2.7 Bcf/d combined) in 2017 LNG exports.