U.S. shale natural gas production has declined so far in 2024
Note: The formations included in our U.S. shale natural gas production estimates are determined by identified tight and shale formations. Year-to-date 2024=January–September.
U.S. natural gas production from shale and tight formations, which accounts for 79% of dry natural gas production, decreased slightly in the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. If this trend holds for the remainder of 2024, it would mark the first annual decrease in U.S. shale gas production since we started collecting these data in 2000.
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Market dynamics vary at key natural gas pricing hubs
Note: $/MMBtu=dollars per million British thermal units
Pricing hubs provide transactional flexibility to buyers and sellers in the natural gas industry. The integrated North American market has close to 200 pricing hubs, which vary by size, location, type, liquidity, and age. Pricing hubs convey market information and make it easier for buyers and sellers to arrange natural gas deals in physical and financial markets across many time periods: intra-day, daily, weekly, balance-of-month, monthly, seasonally, and annually. Changes in prices at natural gas hubs tend to be reflected in movements in prices at nearby power market hubs or zones. A mix of private price reporting agencies and exchanges offer services and platforms to help buyers, sellers, and market observers obtain pricing information. Pricing hubs are dynamic; new ones are established or are retired based on market conditions and consumer preferences.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, prices, map, infrastructure
U.S. construction costs rose slightly for solar and wind, dropped for natural gas in 2022
The average U.S. construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems and wind turbines in 2022 were close to 2021 costs, while natural gas-fired electricity generators decreased 11%, according to our recently released data. Average construction costs for solar generators increased by 1.7% in 2022, and for wind turbines they increased by 1.6%.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, costs, electric generation, wind, solar, capacity
Four new petroleum liquids pipelines have been completed in the United States since 2023
This TIE was updated with a new web link for the Port Neches Link on October 23, 2024.
Since 2023, pipeline companies have completed four new petroleum liquids pipeline projects in the United States—three crude oil pipeline projects and one hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) project—according to our recently updated Liquids Pipeline Projects Database. No new petroleum product pipeline projects were completed during this period. Petroleum product pipelines carry gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refinery products.
Read More ›Florida’s retail gasoline price stays stable after Hurricane Milton despite shortages
Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s western coast on October 9 as a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane and accompanying rain, winds, and flooding disrupted key gasoline supply chains to the state, leaving hundreds of retail gasoline stations without fuel. However, the average retail price of regular gasoline in Florida has remained relatively stable in the storm’s aftermath, remaining flat at $3.04 per gallon (gal) this week, as supply chains began to recover.
Read More ›U.S. capacity to produce biofuels increased 7% in 2023
Capacity to produce biofuels increased 7% in the United States during 2023, reaching 24 billion gallons per year (gal/y) at the start of 2024, led by a 44% increase in a category we call renewable diesel and other biofuels. Other biofuels includes renewable heating oil, renewable jet fuel (also known as sustainable aviation fuel), and renewable naphtha and gasoline.
Read More ›Tags: renewables, biofuels, ethanol, capacity, production/supply
U.S. coal exports from the Port of Baltimore rebounded two months after bridge collapse
U.S. coal exports from the Port of Baltimore rebounded at the end of May 2024, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Shipments from the port’s two coal-loading terminals had stopped for almost two months following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The main shipping channel into the Port of Baltimore reopened on May 21.
Read More ›Tags: coal, exports/imports
Global refinery margins fall to multiyear seasonal lows in September
Note: The 3:2:1 crack spread is an indicator of refining margins, the short-term profit margin for oil refineries, which generally produce about 2 barrels of gasoline for every 1 barrel of distillate fuel oil. To estimate the refinery crack spreads, regional crude oil benchmarks were used (Brent for New York, Los Angeles, and ARA; Light Louisiana Sweet for the U.S. Gulf Coast; West Texas Intermediate for Chicago; and Dubai for Singapore). ARA=Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp
Refinery margins for petroleum refiners across the world are shrinking, indicating reduced profitability from refining crude oil and selling petroleum products. Declining margins are the result of relatively weak demand for petroleum products even as global refining capacity increases.
Read More ›Fewer tankers transit the Red Sea in 2024
The amount of crude oil and oil products flowing through the Bab el-Mandeb, the southern chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, decreased by more than 50% in the first eight months of 2024.
Read More ›Tags: international, pipelines, liquid fuels, map, crude oil, oil/petroleum, chokepoints
U.S. hourly electricity demand peaked in July with widespread heatwaves
Note: Chart shows maximum electricity demand each day based on hourly data converted to Eastern Daylight Time.
Last summer, U.S. electricity demand in the Lower 48 states was greatest at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 15, 2024, when it reached about 745 gigawatthours (GWh), based on data in our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. In our analysis, we calculate each day’s peak according to the hour with the highest electricity demand. This year’s U.S. summer hourly peak (745 GWh) was essentially the same as in 2023 (742 GWh) and in 2022 (743 GWh). On the other hand, U.S. generation from January through July was about 2,500 terawatthours (TWh), 4% more than the 2,397 TWh generated in the same period last year, according to our Electricity Power Monthly.
Read More ›Hurricane Milton nears landfall on Florida’s west coast, disrupts energy infrastructure
This TIE was updated with additional mapping.
As of 8:00 a.m. eastern time on October 9, Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday as a major hurricane on the west coast of Florida with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, creating the potential for significant disruptions to energy infrastructure.
Read More ›Household heating expenditures expected to remain about the same or less than last winter
As we explain in our October 2024 Winter Fuels Outlook, we expect that most U.S. households are likely to spend about the same or less on energy than they did last winter, depending on a household’s main space heating fuel and the region where they live. We expect that lower prices this winter will be offset by colder temperatures, resulting in relatively little change in expenditures.
Read More ›U.S. natural gas-fired electricity generation set new daily records in summer 2024
U.S. natural gas-fired power plants generated more than 7 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity on August 2, 2024, according to our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor, making up almost half of all electricity generated in the contiguous United States that day.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, generation, electricity, weather
EIA now publishes additional U.S. biofuel and distillate forecasts
Biofuels are making up an increasing share of total distillate fuel oil consumed in the United States. Beginning in the September 2024 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we began publishing forecasts for several new series that help to better capture how biofuels are being consumed and overall demand for distillate fuel oil, a classification of petroleum products that includes diesel, fuel oil, and heating oil.
Read More ›Distillate fuel oil demand will increase in the fall because of the agricultural harvest
Updated October 11, 2024 to correct a data calculation in the third figure.
Note: Total distillate fuel oil includes petroleum-based distillate fuel oil, renewable diesel, and biodiesel.
We expect distillate fuel oil consumption to increase in the fall as diesel-powered agricultural equipment is used to harvest and transport crops. The harvest tends to peak in mid-October and continue through November, when the start of the winter home heating season also supports distillate fuel oil demand. With early indications that the 2024 harvest will likely be on schedule or slightly ahead of schedule, we expect distillate demand to generally follow the five-year average in 2024.
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