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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).
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
Note: Visit the Monthly Energy Review to see the full U.S. natural gas flow 2018 diagram.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
U.S. natural gas production and consumption have both generally increased since the mid-2000s, and both dry, or consumer-grade, natural gas production and consumption reached record highs of about 30 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2018. In both 2017 and 2018, annual dry natural gas production exceeded consumption for the first time since 1966.
U.S. natural gas production has increased in the past decade as the widespread adoption of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has allowed producers to more economically produce natural gas from shale formations. Shale gas now makes up a higher percentage of total U.S. natural gas production than natural gas produced from both traditional natural gas wells and from crude oil wells as associated natural gas. Smaller volumes of natural gas are also produced from coal seams, called coalbed methane.
In 2018, gross withdrawals of natural gas and other compounds extracted at the wellhead in the United States totaled 37 Tcf, with more than half coming from shale gas wells. Marketed natural gas production, which excludes natural gas used for repressuring the well, vented and flared gas, and any nonhydrocarbon gases, was nearly 33 Tcf. U.S. marketed natural gas was further processed into 30 Tcf of dry natural gas and 2 Tcf of natural gas plant liquids.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
As U.S. natural gas production has increased, exports of natural gas have also increased and recently have started to surpass natural gas imports. The United States became a net exporter of natural gas in 2017. In 2018, the United States exported a record of nearly 4 Tcf of natural gas, either by pipeline to Mexico and Canada or shipped overseas as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas imports that year were 3 Tcf, the lowest since 2015.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
Note: Includes liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage through December 2017.
In the United States, significant amounts of natural gas are also added to or withdrawn from storage throughout the year. Natural gas is added, or injected, to storage during periods of low demand, typically during the spring and fall, and is withdrawn from storage during periods of high demand, typically in the winter and summer. Natural gas is stored in large volumes in underground facilities and in smaller volumes in above-ground tanks, sometimes as LNG.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
In 2018, more than two-thirds of the dry natural gas consumed in the United States was used by the electric power and industrial sectors. Smaller amounts of natural gas were consumed by the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors; exported to other countries; or added to storage.
The U.S. electric power sector has been the largest end user of natural gas in three of the last four years, surpassing the industrial sector for the first time in 2012. In 2018, about 35% of the natural gas consumed in the United States was used by the electric power sector to generate electricity and heat.
The industrial sector consumed 34% of natural gas in 2018 for process heating; as fuel for combined heat and power plants; and as raw material (feedstock) to produce chemicals, fertilizer, and hydrogen. The residential and commercial sectors use natural gas mainly for heating.
Natural gas data is available in various EIA sources, including
Principal contributor: Mickey Francis
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In the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) November Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will remain near its current level through the end of 2021.
A record 12.9 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil was produced in the United States in November 2019 and was at 12.7 million b/d in March 2020, when the President declared a national emergency concerning the COVID-19 outbreak. Crude oil production then fell to 10.0 million b/d in May 2020, the lowest level since January 2018.
By August, the latest monthly data available in EIA’s series, production of crude oil had risen to 10.6 million b/d in the United States, and the U.S. benchmark price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil had increased from a monthly average of $17 per barrel (b) in April to $42/b in August. EIA forecasts that the WTI price will average $43/b in the first half of 2021, up from our forecast of $40/b during the second half of 2020.
The U.S. crude oil production forecast reflects EIA’s expectations that annual global petroleum demand will not recover to pre-pandemic levels (101.5 million b/d in 2019) through at least 2021. EIA forecasts that global consumption of petroleum will average 92.9 million b/d in 2020 and 98.8 million b/d in 2021.
The gradual recovery in global demand for petroleum contributes to EIA’s forecast of higher crude oil prices in 2021. EIA expects that the Brent crude oil price will increase from its 2020 average of $41/b to $47/b in 2021.
EIA’s crude oil price forecast depends on many factors, especially changes in global production of crude oil. As of early November, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partner countries (OPEC+) were considering plans to keep production at current levels, which could result in higher crude oil prices. OPEC+ had previously planned to ease production cuts in January 2021.
Other factors could result in lower-than-forecast prices, especially a slower recovery in global petroleum demand. As COVID-19 cases continue to increase, some parts of the United States are adding restrictions such as curfews and limitations on gatherings and some European countries are re-instituting lockdown measures.
EIA recently published a more detailed discussion of U.S. crude oil production in This Week in Petroleum.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will earn about $323 billion in net oil export revenues in 2020. If realized, this forecast revenue would be the lowest in 18 years. Lower crude oil prices and lower export volumes drive this expected decrease in export revenues.
Crude oil prices have fallen as a result of lower global demand for petroleum products because of responses to COVID-19. Export volumes have also decreased under OPEC agreements limiting crude oil output that were made in response to low crude oil prices and record-high production disruptions in Libya, Iran, and to a lesser extent, Venezuela.
OPEC earned an estimated $595 billion in net oil export revenues in 2019, less than half of the estimated record high of $1.2 trillion, which was earned in 2012. Continued declines in revenue in 2020 could be detrimental to member countries’ fiscal budgets, which rely heavily on revenues from oil sales to import goods, fund social programs, and support public services. EIA expects a decline in net oil export revenue for OPEC in 2020 because of continued voluntary curtailments and low crude oil prices.
The benchmark Brent crude oil spot price fell from an annual average of $71 per barrel (b) in 2018 to $64/b in 2019. EIA expects Brent to average $41/b in 2020, based on forecasts in EIA’s October 2020 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). OPEC petroleum production averaged 36.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018 and fell to 34.5 million b/d in 2019; EIA expects OPEC production to decline a further 3.9 million b/d to average 30.7 million b/d in 2020.
EIA based its OPEC revenues estimate on forecast petroleum liquids production—including crude oil, condensate, and natural gas plant liquids—and forecast values of OPEC petroleum consumption and crude oil prices.
EIA recently published a more detailed discussion of OPEC revenue in This Week in Petroleum.
In 2019, consumption of renewable energy in the United States grew for the fourth year in a row, reaching a record 11.5 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), or 11% of total U.S. energy consumption. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) new U.S. renewable energy consumption by source and sector chart published in the Monthly Energy Review shows how much renewable energy by source is consumed in each sector.
In its Monthly Energy Review, EIA converts sources of energy to common units of heat, called British thermal units (Btu), to compare different types of energy that are more commonly measured in units that are not directly comparable, such as gallons of biofuels compared with kilowatthours of wind energy. EIA uses a fossil fuel equivalence to calculate primary energy consumption of noncombustible renewables such as wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review
Wind energy in the United States is almost exclusively used by wind-powered turbines to generate electricity in the electric power sector, and it accounted for about 24% of U.S. renewable energy consumption in 2019. Wind surpassed hydroelectricity to become the most-consumed source of renewable energy on an annual basis in 2019.
Wood and waste energy, including wood, wood pellets, and biomass waste from landfills, accounted for about 24% of U.S. renewable energy use in 2019. Industrial, commercial, and electric power facilities use wood and waste as fuel to generate electricity, to produce heat, and to manufacture goods. About 2% of U.S. households used wood as their primary source of heat in 2019.
Hydroelectric power is almost exclusively used by water-powered turbines to generate electricity in the electric power sector and accounted for about 22% of U.S. renewable energy consumption in 2019. U.S. hydropower consumption has remained relatively consistent since the 1960s, but it fluctuates with seasonal rainfall and drought conditions.
Biofuels, including fuel ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable fuels, accounted for about 20% of U.S. renewable energy consumption in 2019. Biofuels usually are blended with petroleum-based motor gasoline and diesel and are consumed as liquid fuels in automobiles. Industrial consumption of biofuels accounts for about 36% of U.S. biofuel energy consumption.
Solar energy, consumed to generate electricity or directly as heat, accounted for about 9% of U.S. renewable energy consumption in 2019 and had the largest percentage growth among renewable sources in 2019. Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, including rooftop panels, and solar thermal power plants use sunlight to generate electricity. Some residential and commercial buildings heat with solar heating systems.