U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel, totaled 22,000 barrels per day in 2018, down 42% from 2017, and 64% lower than the all-time high set in 2016. Although increasing Renewable Fuel Standard targets have driven…
Month: April 2019
Panama Canal expansion allows more transits of propane and other hydrocarbon gas liquids
In June 2016, the Panama Canal Authority, the body that operates the Panama Canal, opened a third set of locks that facilitated transit of larger ships, the first such expansion since the canal was completed in 1914. In the years…
U.S. natural gas inventories end withdrawal season at lowest level since spring 2014
Working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 states at the end of March totaled 1,137 billion cubic feet (Bcf) according to EIA’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. As of March 31, the usual end of the natural gas…
The Northeast leads the country in net-metered wind electricity generation capacity
Since 2011, net-metered wind electric generating capacity in the Northeast has grown faster than in the rest of the United States. Like small-scale solar photovoltaic systems, many of which are net-metered, net-metered wind systems are much smaller than their utility-scale…
New wind and solar power projects tend to come online at the end of the year
New electricity generating capacity is brought online throughout the year, but December has historically been the most significant month for both onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity additions in the United States. Over the past nine years (2010–2018), 43%…
The United States exported a record volume of ethanol in 2018 for second consecutive year
The United States exported 112,000 barrels per day (b/d) of fuel ethanol in 2018, surpassing the record high of 91,000 b/d set in 2017. At the same time, U.S. imports of fuel ethanol decreased about 30% in 2018 to less…
U.S. petroleum product exports set record high in 2018
U.S. exports of total petroleum products set a record high in 2018, reaching an annual average of 5.6 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase of 366,000 b/d from 2017 levels. The three largest petroleum product exports from the United…
U.S. energy trade with Mexico involves importing crude oil, exporting petroleum products
Energy trade accounted for 12% of the value for all U.S. exports to Mexico and 5% of all U.S. imports from Mexico in 2018, based on the latest annual data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Energy trade between Mexico and…
EIA expects 2019 summer average residential electricity use to be lowest in five years
EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts that the typical U.S. residential household will consume about 3,080 kilowatthours of electricity this summer (June through August), down 5% from the average summer consumption in 2018. If this forecast is realized, it would be…
Summer 2019 gasoline prices forecast to be lower than last summer
In the April 2019 update of its Summer Fuels Outlook, EIA expects the retail price of U.S. regular-grade gasoline will average $2.76 per gallon (gal) during the summer from April through September 2019. EIA’s expected average is down 3% from…
