Iran drives unplanned OPEC crude oil production outage to highest levels since late 2015
Note: OPEC disruptions include crude oil only.
Unplanned crude oil production outages for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) averaged 2.5 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first half of 2019, the highest six-month average since the end of 2015. EIA estimates that in June, Iran alone accounted for more than 60% (1.7 million b/d) of all OPEC unplanned outages.
Tags: production/supply, outages, OPEC, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum, Iran
New EPA ruling expands sale of 15% ethanol blended motor gasoline
On May 31, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule allowing the year-round sale of motor gasoline blends containing up to 15% fuel ethanol, or E15. The ruling increases the availability of E15 blends in the United States, which are currently sold at more than 1,800 retail fuel stations across 31 states, according to Growth Energy, a trade association that represents producers and supporters of fuel ethanol.
EIA expects U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions to fall in 2019
After a 2.7% increase in U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2018, EIA’s July Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts a 2.2% decrease in CO2 emissions for 2019. Nearly all of the forecast decrease is due to fewer emissions from coal consumption. Forecast natural gas CO2 emissions increase and petroleum CO2 emissions remain virtually unchanged.
Tags: emissions, CO2 (carbon dioxide)
Growth in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale and tight gas production leads to LNG exports
Argentina’s domestic natural gas production has been rising steadily in the past three years, largely because of increasing production from the Neuquén Basin’s Vaca Muerta shale and tight gas play. Production from Vaca Muerta surpassed 1.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in December 2018. As production has grown, Argentina has resumed exporting natural gas by pipeline to neighboring Chile and Brazil and has started exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Argentina’s first LNG export cargo was shipped on June 6 from the offshore Tango floating liquefaction unit (FLNG).
Lower anticipated global economic growth reduces expectations for 2019 global oil demand
In its July 2019 edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that global liquid fuels consumption, which averaged 99.9 million barrels/day (b/d) in 2018, will grow by 1.1 million b/d in 2019 and by 1.4 million b/d in 2020. EIA has revised down its expectation for global liquids demand growth for six consecutive months. This revision reflects slower expected economic growth in many of the world’s largest oil-consuming countries, lower than expected oil consumption so far this year, and higher crude oil prices.
U.S. utility-scale battery storage power capacity to grow substantially by 2023
Utility-scale battery storage units (units of one megawatt (MW) or greater power capacity) are a newer electric power resource, and their use has been growing in recent years. Operating utility-scale battery storage power capacity has more than quadrupled from the end of 2014 (214 MW) through March 2019 (899 MW). Assuming currently planned additions are completed and no current operating capacity is retired, utility-scale battery storage power capacity could exceed 2,500 MW by 2023.
Tags: storage, electricity
In 2018, 90% of the natural gas used in the United States was produced domestically
Note: Visit the Monthly Energy Review to see the full U.S. natural gas flow 2018 diagram.
Natural gas is one of the main sources of energy in the United States. In 2018, more than 90% of the natural gas consumed in the United States was produced domestically. EIA’s U.S. natural gas flow diagram helps to visualize the elements of U.S. natural gas supply (production, imports, and withdrawals from storage) and disposition (consumption, exports, and additions to storage).
U.S. crude oil production surpassed 12 million barrels per day in April
U.S. crude oil production and lease condensate reached another milestone in April 2019, totaling 12.2 million barrels per day (b/d), according to EIA’s latest Petroleum Supply Monthly. April 2019 marks the first time that monthly U.S. crude oil production levels surpassed 12 million b/d, and this milestone comes less than a year after U.S. crude oil production surpassed 11 million b/d in August 2018.
Petroleum, natural gas, and coal continue to dominate U.S. energy consumption
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Fossil fuels—petroleum, natural gas, and coal—have accounted for at least 80% of energy consumption in the United States for well over a century. Overall energy consumption in the United States reached a record high in 2018 at 101 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), of which more than 81 quadrillion Btu were from fossil fuels. Despite the increase, the fossil fuel share of total U.S. energy consumption in 2018 increased only slightly from 2017 and was the second-lowest share since 1902.
U.S. refinery capacity reaches record high at the start of 2019
As of January 1, 2019, U.S. operable atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity was a record-high 18.8 million barrels per calendar day (b/cd), an increase of 1.1% since the beginning of 2018, according to EIA’s annual Refinery Capacity Report. The previous high of 18.6 million b/cd was set at the beginning of 1981. U.S. annual operable crude oil distillation unit (CDU) capacity has increased slightly in six of the past seven years. Operable capacity includes both idle and operating capacity.