Federal financial interventions and subsidies in U.S. energy markets declined since 2013
EIA has updated its report on federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets, covering the 2016 U.S. government fiscal year (FY). Subsidies for many energy categories have declined since FY 2013, when spending related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was at or near its highest levels. Between fiscal years 2013 and 2016, direct federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets decreased by nearly half, from $29.3 billion in FY 2013 to $15.0 billion in FY 2016.
Coal power generation declines in United Kingdom as natural gas, renewables grow
Note: 2017 values are estimates based on data through September.
In the United Kingdom, electricity produced from coal declined from 42% of total electricity generation in 2012 to 7% in 2017. According to U.K. National Grid data, on April 21, 2017, the country went 24 hours without any electricity generated from coal for the first time since the 1880s. In January 2018, the U.K. government laid out an implementation plan to shut down all coal-fired electricity generation plants by 2025 that do not have carbon capture and storage technology.
Tags: coal, electricity, generation, natural gas, renewables, United Kingdom
Pennsylvania’s natural gas production continues to increase
Pennsylvania’s marketed natural gas production averaged a record 15 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, 3% higher than the 2016 level. This production is largely from shale plays in the Appalachian Basin. Pennsylvania accounted for 19% of total U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2017 and produced more natural gas than any other state except Texas.
Fuel cell power plants are used in diverse ways across the United States
At the end of 2016, the United States had 56 large-scale fuel cell generating units greater than 1 megawatt (MW), totaling 137 megawatts (MW) of net summer capacity. Most of this capacity (85%) has come online since 2013. Fuel cells collectively provided 810,000 megawatthours (MWh) of electricity in 2016, representing 0.02% of total U.S. electricity generation.
Tags: capacity, electricity, generation, natural gas, power plants, states
U.S. coal exports increased by 61% in 2017 as exports to Asia more than doubled
The United States exported 97.0 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2017, a 61% (36.7 MMst) increase from the 2016 level. Exports to Asia more than doubled from 15.7 MMst in 2016 to 32.8 MMst in 2017, although Europe continues to be the largest recipient of U.S. coal exports.
Tags: coal, exports/imports, international
The U.S. is an active participant in petroleum markets as both an importer and exporter
U.S. net petroleum trade, including crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas plant liquids, has fallen in recent years, reaching 3.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017. This is the lowest level of net petroleum trade (imports minus exports) since 1971. At the same time, total U.S. gross petroleum trade (imports and exports) has reached an all-time high of 16.3 million b/d in 2017.
Tags: exports/imports, liquid fuels, oil/petroleum
Customer spending on electricity expected to increase this summer
EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts the typical U.S. household will spend an average of $426 for electricity this summer (June–August), an increase of about 3% from the average summer expenditures in 2017. The expected increase in electricity bills is a result of forecast higher retail electricity prices and slightly higher projected electricity use to meet increased cooling demand.
U.S. natural gas production and consumption increase in nearly all AEO2018 cases
Republished April 24 to correct industrial natural gas consumption in the Reference case.
EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018) projects that U.S. dry natural gas production will increase through 2050 across a wide variety of alternative assumptions about the future. In the Reference case, which is based on current laws and regulations, production grows 59% from 2017 to 2050, starting at 73.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017 and reaching 118 Bcf/d in 2050. In sensitivity cases with different assumptions for natural gas resources and extraction technology, natural gas production also increases through the forecast period, although at different rates.
Natural gas inventories end heating season at the lowest level since 2014
Note: Data for March 31, 2018, is an interpolated value, based on the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
Working natural gas in storage in the United States as of March 31, 2018, the end of the 2017–2018 heating season, totaled 1,351 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to EIA’s estimate based on its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. This is the lowest level for U.S. working gas stocks at this time of year since March 31, 2014, when working gas stocks were much lower, at 837 Bcf following the 2013-2014 heating season. As of March 31, 2018, working gas stocks were 21% lower than the previous five-year (2013–2017) average for the end of the heating season.
Tags: inventories/stocks, natural gas
Summer gasoline prices expected to be highest in four years
EIA forecasts that drivers in the United States will pay an average of $2.74 per gallon (gal) this summer for regular gasoline, the highest average summer gasoline price in four years, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook. EIA’s forecast gasoline price for summer 2018 (April through September) is 26 cents/gal higher than the average price last summer, largely reflecting changes in crude oil prices. Overall gasoline expenditures in 2018 are expected to be about $2,300, or nearly $200 more per household than in 2017.