According to the financial reports analyzed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), global expenditures related to oil and natural gas exploration and development (E&D) increased $42 billion (13%) for 102 publicly traded oil companies in 2019, totaling $361 billion. As a result of significant crude oil price declines in 2020, however, global proved reserves […]
Category: Today in Energy
U.S. natural gas storage capacity remained relatively unchanged in 2019
Underground natural gas storage capacity in the Lower 48 states has remained relatively flat since 2012. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) measures working natural gas storage capacity in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated peak capacity. Both measures of capacity were relatively unchanged in 2019; design capacity declined 0.4% and demonstrated peak capacity increased […]
Renewable diesel drives growth in 2019 biomass-based diesel imports
U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel, grew 26% in 2019 to more than 27,000 barrels per day (b/d), reversing three years of decline. Imports of biomass-based diesel increased in 2019 because of the increase in renewable diesel imports from Singapore. […]
U.S. customers experienced an average of nearly six hours of power interruptions in 2018
Interruptions in electricity service vary in frequency and duration across the nearly 3,000 electric distribution systems in the United States. Power interruptions are caused by many factors, including weather, vegetation patterns, and utility practices. In 2018, power outage durations for U.S. electricity customers averaged 5.8 hours per customer. […]
The recent decline in light-duty vehicle sales has affected cars more than light trucks
The 729,000 vehicles sold in the United States in April 2020 amounted to the lowest total since early 2010. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of light-duty vehicle sales in April is the lowest in the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data series that dates back to 1976. Car sales have fallen by a larger […]
U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years
In 2019, U.S. annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeded coal consumption for the first time since before 1885, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. This outcome mainly reflects the continued decline in the amount of coal used for electricity generation over the past decade as well as growth in […]
North American crude oil prices are closely, but not perfectly, connected
The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) front-month futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the most heavily used crude oil price benchmark in North America, saw its largest and swiftest decline ever on April 20, 2020, dropping as low as -$40.32 per barrel (b) during intraday trading before closing at -$37.63/b. Prices have since recovered, […]
EIA forecasts lower U.S. natural gas consumption in 2020
In the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that decreases in natural gas consumption in the United States in 2020 will be driven by declines in natural gas used in the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. In the U.S. electric power sector, EIA forecasts natural gas consumption to decline […]
Daytime electricity demand in New York City most affected by COVID-19 mitigation actions
Actions to mitigate the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily weekday electricity demand in New York City to decrease by 16% in April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. However, decreases in the city’s electricity demand have not occurred uniformly across the day. The largest differences between actual and […]
Most new utility-scale solar in the United States is being built in the South Atlantic
In the past three years, the South Atlantic region of the United States installed more new utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity than any other region of the country. States in the South Atlantic region installed 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in 2019, more than double the 1.0 GW installed in California, which had […]
