U.S. retail gasoline prices heading into Memorial Day weekend are at a multi-year low
Note: Real prices are adjusted to May 2025 dollars.
The retail price for regular-grade gasoline in the United States on May 19, the Monday before Memorial Day weekend, averaged $3.17 per gallon (gal), 11% (or 41 cents/gal) lower than the price a year ago. After adjusting for inflation (real terms), average U.S. retail gasoline prices going into Memorial Day weekend are 14% lower than last year, largely because crude oil prices have fallen.
Read More ›Tags: prices, gasoline, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum
China dominates global trade of battery minerals
Note: Excludes trade within regions.
China has a major role at each stage of the global battery supply chain and dominates interregional trade of minerals. China imported almost 12 million short tons of raw and processed battery minerals, accounting for 44% of interregional trade, and exported almost 11 million short tons of battery materials, packs, and components, or 58% of interregional trade in 2023, according to regional UN Comtrade data.
Read More ›Tags: China, international, storage, production/supply
Refining industry risks from 2025 hurricane season
Colorado State University’s hurricane forecast estimates the 2025 hurricane season will exceed the 1991–2020 average, with an estimate of 17 named storms, compared with a historical average of 14 storms. Meteorologists expect 13–18 named storms, including 3–6 storms with direct impacts on the United States, during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, according to reports from AccuWeather in April.
Read More ›Tags: refining, weather, map, states, Gulf Coast, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
U.S. hydropower generation expected to rise in 2025 following last year’s relative low
We expect U.S. hydropower generation will increase by 7.5% in 2025 but will remain 2.4% below the 10-year average in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Hydropower generation in 2024 fell to 241 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), the lowest since at least 2010; in 2025, we expect generation will be 259.1 BkWh. This amount of generation would represent 6% of the electricity generation in the country.
Read More ›EIA forecasts world oil consumption growth to slow amid less economic activity
Note: Excludes 2020 and 2021 as outlier years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We forecast consumption growth of crude oil and other liquid fuels will slow over the next two years, driven by a slowdown in economic growth, particularly in Asia, in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).
Read More ›U.S. electricity prices continue steady increase
Data values: Energy Prices
Retail electricity prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2022, and we expect them to continue increasing through 2026, based on forecasts in our Short-Term Energy Outlook. Parts of the country with relatively high electricity prices may experience greater price increases than those with relatively low electricity prices.
Read More ›After more than a decade of little change, U.S. electricity consumption is rising again
Data values: Electricity Overview (history) and U.S. Electricity Industry Overview (forecast)
In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, we forecast U.S. annual electricity consumption will increase in 2025 and 2026, surpassing the all-time high reached in 2024. This growth contrasts with the trend of relatively flat electricity demand between the mid-2000s and early 2020s. Much of the recent and forecasted growth in electricity consumption is coming from the commercial sector, which includes data centers, and the industrial sector, which includes manufacturing establishments.
Read More ›Residential electric bills in Hawaii and Connecticut are twice those in New Mexico, Utah
Data values: Average bills are calculated based on residential sector retail sales of electricity, number of customer accounts, and average retail price of electricity.
The average electric monthly bill for U.S. residential customers was $144 in 2024, but average costs for customers in some states were much higher or lower. Customers in states such as Hawaii and Connecticut, where retail electricity prices are relatively high, paid more than $200 per month for electricity, or more than twice as much as customers in states such as New Mexico and Utah.
Read More ›Tags: map, residential, electricity, prices, Hawaii, states, Connecticut, New Mexico, Utah, consumption/demand
Well completions per location more than double in Lower 48 states as technology advances
Note: To calculate the number of wells completed per location, we grouped wells within a 50-foot radius into single locations. We then identified wells completed by their completion start and end dates, counting concurrent completions when their completion periods overlapped.
We estimate that the average number of wells completed simultaneously at the same location in the Lower 48 states has more than doubled, increasing from 1.5 wells in December 2014 to more than 3.0 wells in June 2024. By completing multiple wells at once rather than sequentially, operators can accelerate their production timeline and reduce their cost per well. The increasing number of simultaneous completions reflects significant technological advances in hydraulic fracturing operations, particularly in equipment capabilities and operational strategies.
Read More ›Tags: wells, drilling, production/supply
U.S. sustainable aviation fuel production takes off as new capacity comes online
Note: Other Biofuels includes sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable heating oil, renewable naphtha, renewable propane, renewable gasoline, and other emerging biofuels that are in various stages of development and commercialization. SAF production capacity is an estimate based on company announcements and trade press and only includes hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) SAF. We do not publish SAF production capacity data.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production is growing in the United States as new capacity comes online. U.S. production of Other Biofuels, the category we use to capture SAF in our Petroleum Supply Monthly, approximately doubled from December 2024 to February 2025.
Read More ›Why California usually pays more at the pump for gasoline
Retail prices for regular grade gasoline in California are consistently higher than in any other state in the continental United States, often exceeding the national average by more than a dollar per gallon. Several factors contribute to this high price, including state taxes and fees, environmental requirements, special fuel requirements, and isolated petroleum markets.
Read More ›Tags: map, California, states, prices, gasoline, liquid fuels
Oil prices and refinery margins fell slightly in first quarter of 2025
Note: Refinery margin is calculated as the 3-2-1 crack spread on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, which represents two barrels of gasoline and one barrel of distillate fuel oil minus three barrels of Brent crude oil. 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
During the first quarter of 2025 (1Q25), crude oil prices generally decreased while U.S. refinery margins initially increased before decreasing in the final month of the quarter. In this quarterly update, we review petroleum markets price developments in 1Q25, covering crude oil prices, refinery margins, biofuel compliance credit prices, and natural gas plant liquids prices.
Read More ›Tags: oil/petroleum, liquid fuels, crude oil, prices, refining, Brent, natural gas
U.S. oil companies spent less on interest over the last decade despite higher rates
Note: Production expenses include costs of goods sold, operating expenses, and production taxes from company income statements. Interest expenses are in 2024 dollars and deflated using the Consumer Price Index.
Higher oil prices, increased drilling efficiency, and structurally lower debt needs have contributed to lower interest expenses for some publicly traded U.S. oil companies over the past decade, despite the level of interest rates across the economy being relatively high.
Read More ›Tags: prices, production/supply, liquid fuels, oil/petroleum
U.S. imports of major transportation fuels decreased in 2024
U.S. imports of petroleum products decreased by 210,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2024 to average 1.8 million b/d. Imports of all major transportation fuels, such as motor gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, as well as other products, such as unfinished oils, decreased.
Read More ›U.S. natural gas inventories in underground storage ended winter at a three-year low
Note: We estimated end-of-month values for February and March from the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
After a relatively warm start to the 2024–25 winter heating season (November–March), colder-than-normal temperatures across much of the United States in January and February resulted in increased consumption of natural gas and more withdrawals from U.S. natural gas storage than normal. By the end of March, the least amount of natural gas was held in U.S. underground storage in the Lower 48 states since 2022, with inventories 4% lower than the previous five-year average for that time of year, according to our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, inventories/stocks, storage, weather