Between the week ending March 20 and the week ending April 24, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a total of 17.5 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to data in our Weekly Petroleum Status Report. DOE released 7.1 million barrels in the … [continued]
Prices for natural gas in Europe and Asia have diverged from those in the United States since the February 28 closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Futures prices for liquified natural gas (LNG) delivery to the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the European benchmark price, increased to $14.80 per million British thermal … [continued]
During 2025, the U.S. electric power sector retired 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired generating capacity at four power plants, the least since 2010. At the beginning of 2025, coal plant operators had planned to retire 8.5 GW of capacity; however, 4.8 GW of planned retirements were delayed to a future … [continued]
In our April Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect U.S. hydropower generation will increase by 5% in 2026 but remain 1.8% below the 10-year average following snow drought conditions in some states. Hydropower generation in 2025 increased to 245 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), about 4 BkWh more than the record-low generation year 2024. … [continued]
Crude oil and petroleum product prices increased significantly in the first quarter of 2026 (1Q26), particularly following military action in the Middle East on February 28 and the subsequent de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In this quarterly update, we review petroleum markets price developments in 1Q26, covering … [continued]
Rooftop solar generating capacity in Puerto Rico totaled 1,456 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2025, 20% of the overall capacity mix. Rooftop solar capacity has increased faster than other sources over the past decade. Between 2016 and 2025 rooftop solar installations accounted for 81% of the new generating capacity … [continued]
After four years of growth, U.S. coal exports decreased by 16 million short tons (MMst) in 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Exports totaled 93 MMst in 2025, compared with 108 MMst in 2024. Thermal coal exports fell by 18%, and metallurgical coal exports fell by 11%. The … [continued]
In March 2026, tanker rates for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) leaving the Middle East to Asia were the highest since at least November 2005, when data were first recorded. The price increase followed Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz on March 2. The Strait of Hormuz is an important chokepoint, connecting the Persian … [continued]
Although homes can have a mix of bulbs for indoor lighting, 90% of U.S. households reported using light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, according to the most recent results of the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Over one-third of households (37%) used LED bulbs for all indoor lighting. In contrast, 5% of households reported … [continued]
Over the past 20 years, electricity from wind power and utility-scale solar power has increased to 17% of generation in the United States compared to less than 1% in 2005. In 2025, net generation of wind and solar together accounted for 760,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, 88,000 GWh more than in … [continued]
