The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Annual Coal Report (ACR) shows that U.S. coal mining productive capacity, or the maximum amount of coal that mines can produce in a year, totaled 1,009 million short tons (MMst) in 2019. This amount represents a 28% decrease from the peak productive coal mine capacity of 1,407 MMst […]
Category: Today in Energy
U.S. distillate inventories have fallen back within the five-year range
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report, for the week ending November 13, 2020, U.S. distillate inventories fell to 143 million barrels, back within its previous five-year (2015-19) range for the first time since May 8. U.S. distillate inventories reached 180 million barrels in late July, only 3% less than in […]
The United States briefly returned to net importer status for petroleum earlier this year
The United States imported more crude oil and petroleum products than it exported in May and June of this year, briefly reversing the country’s 15-year-long trend toward becoming a net petroleum exporter. After being a net petroleum exporter for seven consecutive months from October 2019 through April 2020, the United States became a net importer, […]
Pre-Thanksgiving gasoline prices at lowest level since 2015
The average U.S. regular retail gasoline price (the price that consumers pay at the pump) during the week before Thanksgiving this year was $2.10 per gallon (gal), the lowest average retail gasoline price for the Monday before Thanksgiving since 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. […]
EIA updates geological maps of Midland Basin’s Wolfcamp formation
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released new structure and thickness maps for the Wolfcamp play in the Midland Basin, which is a part of the larger Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The Wolfcamp formation has attracted many oil companies because of its stacked potential (that is, multiple hydrocarbon-producing zones […]
New York generated the fourth most electricity from renewable sources of any state in 2019
In 2019, more electricity was generated from renewable sources in New York than in all but three states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Electric Power Monthly. New York’s 39.4 million megawatthours (MWh) of renewable electricity generation was more than any other state east of the Mississippi River and accounted for 30% of […]
Off-grid solar generation could affect how Africa uses coal, natural gas for electricity
In the International Energy Outlook 2020 (IEO2020), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects electricity generation in Africa using two cases with different assumptions about how future electricity needs are fulfilled. In the Maximum Grid Expansion case, in which a centralized grid is developed to meet electricity demand throughout the continent, EIA projects that solar […]
About 25% of U.S. power plants can start up within an hour
About 25% of U.S. power plants can start up—going from being shut down to fully operating—within one hour, based on data collected in EIA’s annual survey of electric generators. Some power plants, especially those powered by coal and nuclear fuel, require more than half a day to reach full operations. The time it takes a […]
The Gulf of Mexico saw its largest decrease in crude oil production since 2008 in August
In August 2020, the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) saw its largest monthly decrease in production of crude oil since September 2008, dropping by 453,000 barrels per day (b/d), or 27%. Production of crude oil in the GOM totaled 1.2 million b/d in August 2020, which is its lowest production rate in nearly seven […]
EIA expects U.S. crude oil production to remain relatively flat through 2021
The amount of working natural gas in storage in the United States ended the natural gas injection, or refill, season (April 1–October 31) at 3,920 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to interpolated data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on November 13. The amount of natural gas held […]
