Growing global production limits crude oil price increases in the most recent forecast
In the June Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that rising global production of petroleum and other liquid fuels (driven by OPEC, Russia, and the United States) will limit price increases for global crude oil benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI). We forecast production will increase more rapidly than consumption, ending the large global stock draws seen in the first two quarters of 2021 and limiting upward crude oil price movement.
Production of crude oil and natural gas in New Mexico reached new record in March 2021
New Mexico had record-high production of crude oil and natural gas in March 2021, averaging 1.16 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil and 6.19 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas. The March 2021 increases in crude oil and natural gas production were the largest monthly increases on record for New Mexico. The increased production occurred after a month when production fell in response to the extreme winter weather in the U.S. South Central region. New Mexico's increased production in March was a result of both new wells coming online for the first time and existing wells coming back online after being shut in during the cold snap.
EIA Product Highlight: Status of U.S. Nuclear Outages
Every morning, each nuclear electricity generator in the United States reports its operating status to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The NRC compiles this information in its Power Reactor Status Report, and we present that information in interactive visualizations on our Status of Nuclear Outages page. Our analysis tool combines the NRC daily status with data gathered from our Annual Electric Generator Report and Monthly Update to the Annual Electric Generator Report. The page includes two maps showing the capacity and outage status of U.S. nuclear plants.
Tags: generation, electricity, nuclear, outages
Supply disruptions and rising demand boosted East Coast petroleum product imports in March
Imports of petroleum products—gasoline, distillate, and other products—into the East Coast region of the United States increased in March 2021. Rising imports resulted from lower domestic supply, higher demand, and higher domestic petroleum product prices compared with prices in Europe. In March, East Coast petroleum product imports averaged 1.4 million barrels per day (b/d). In addition, East Coast gasoline imports averaged 737,000 b/d, the highest March level since 2009, and East Coast distillate imports averaged 421,000 b/d, the highest March level since 2003.
Electric power sector CO2 emissions drop as generation mix shifts from coal to natural gas
Over the past 15 years, the U.S. electricity generation mix has shifted away from coal and toward natural gas and renewables, resulting in lower CO2 emissions from electricity generation. In 2019, the U.S. electric power sector produced 1,724 million metric tons (MMmt) of CO2, 32% less than the 2,544 MMmt produced in 2005.
New infrastructure connects West Texas natural gas-producing areas to demand markets
Recently completed pipeline projects in Texas and Mexico have increased natural gas transportation capacity from the Waha Hub—located near Permian Basin production activities in West Texas—to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico. Since October 2020, two completed projects in Texas and two completed projects in Mexico have increased the Waha Hub’s connectivity to demand markets and, in turn, reduced the price difference between natural gas at the Waha Hub and the Henry Hub.
In 2020, natural gas exports and natural gas for electricity reached record highs
Note: Click for full U.S. natural gas flow 2020 diagram.
In 2020, both natural gas consumption by the U.S. electric power sector and natural gas exports reached record highs, despite a 2% annual decline in domestic dry natural gas production. Dry natural gas production doesn’t include natural gas plant liquids (NGPL), such as ethane and propane. In 2020, NGPL production grew to a record-high 2.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), up 7% from 2019. Our U.S. natural gas flow diagram shows the volume of U.S. natural gas supply (production, imports, and withdrawals from storage) and disposition (consumption, exports, and additions to storage) in 2020.
U.S. energy consumption in 2020 increased for renewables, fell for all other fuels
Note: Click to enlarge.
We recently updated our U.S. energy consumption by source and sector chart with 2020 data. All sources for U.S. energy consumption totaled 92.9 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) in 2020, a record 7% decrease from 2019. Consumption decreased for all fuels compared with 2019 except renewable energy, which increased by 2%. Petroleum consumption decreased 13%, natural gas decreased 2%, coal decreased 19%, and nuclear electric power decreased 2%.
Tags: consumption/demand, total energy, renewables
U.S. natural gas storage capacity has remained flat over the past eight years
Underground natural gas working storage capacity in the Lower 48 states has remained relatively flat since 2012. We measure natural gas working storage capacity in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated peak capacity. Both measures of capacity were relatively unchanged in 2020 compared with 2019: design capacity increased 0.1% and demonstrated peak capacity decreased 0.2%. The largest regional year-over-year change was a decrease in demonstrated peak capacity in the Pacific region.
Tags: storage, natural gas, storage capacity
Agricultural feedstock costs drive RIN prices to all-time highs
The prices of renewable identification number (RIN) credits—the compliance mechanism used for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—sharply increased through April of this year, and they are now higher than at any time during the 13-year history of the RFS program. Rising global demand for the agricultural feedstocks used to make corn fuel ethanol and biomass-based diesel fuels has driven fuel ethanol and biomass-based diesel prices higher in 2021, pushing their corresponding RIN prices to new highs.