Updated short-term forecasts and fresh data on crude oil and natural gas production—This Week in Energy
U.S. Energy Information Administration
EIA provides energy statistics and analyses for sound policy making, efficient markets, and public education.
U.S. natural gas consumption reaches new highs driven by the electric power sector
U.S. natural gas consumption grew by 1% to reach a new annual high of 89.4 billion cubic feet per day in 2023 and continued growing in the first nine months of 2024. The 1% increase in natural gas consumption in 2023 was driven by a 6.7% increase in consumption in the electric power sector, the largest natural gas consuming sector.
Read more about natural gas consumption for electricity generation on Today in Energy.
Henry Hub daily natural gas spot price reached all-time lows in November
The U.S. benchmark Henry Hub daily natural gas price fell to $1.21 per million British thermal units on November 8 and November 11, 2024, an all-time low in inflation-adjusted dollars. Four of the record-low daily prices when adjusting for inflation occurred in November 2024, and the remaining six occurred in 2024 as well.
The Henry Hub spot price in November averaged $2.12/million British thermal units, the lowest average price for that month ever when adjusting for inflation.
Read more about natural gas prices in Today in Energy.
Improving well productivity helps U.S. oil companies increase production at a lower cost
Second-quarter 2024 financial results for 34 publicly traded U.S. oil exploration and production companies suggest increasing well productivity is helping these companies reduce production costs on a per barrel basis and freeing up cash for other uses such as dividends and share repurchases.
In the first eight months of 2024, U.S. crude oil production has averaged a record high of 13.1 million barrels per day, making it likely the United States will be the world’s top producer of crude oil for the seventh consecutive year.
Read more on Today in Energy.
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Five states drove record U.S. natural gas production in 2023
Five states produced more than 70% of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023. Texas accounted for 28% of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023, followed by:
Even though production slowed in 2024, output from these five states continued to make up most—73%—of marketed U.S. natural gas this year.
Read more about natural gas production on Today in Energy.
Highlight Short-Term Energy Outlook
We expect the average price of natural gas for the remainder of the winter heating season to be about 40% higher than the November spot price, despite expectations that U.S. natural gas inventories will remain higher than average throughout the winter. Although the price increase is notable, recent U.S. natural gas prices have been at near or record lows, and the increase will keep prices in line with previous end-of-winter prices.
Check out more highlights from our December Short-Term Energy Outlook.