Today in Energy

• Colder winter weather increases our home heating expenditure forecasts
  15 December 2025
  Our estimates for residential energy expenditures this winter (November 2025 through March 2026) have increased since the publication of our initial Winter Fuels Outlook forecasts in mid-October. We now expect a colder winter, and our retail energy price forecasts have risen, especially for natural gas and propane.
• EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production will decrease slightly in 2026
  12 December 2025
  In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, we forecast U.S. crude oil production will average 13.5 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2026, about 100,000 b/d less than in 2025.
• Energy Minerals Observatory: The data deficits in critical supply chains
  10 December 2025
  Critical minerals, such as copper, cobalt, and silicon, are vital for energy technologies, but most critical minerals markets are less transparent than mature energy markets, such as crude oil or coal. Like other energy markets, many supply-side and demand-side factors influence pricing for these energy-relevant critical minerals, but critical minerals supply chains contain numerous data gaps.
• Spark and dark spreads indicate improved profitability of natural gas, coal power plants
  08 December 2025
  Higher average daily wholesale electricity prices between January and November 2025 may be improving the operational competitiveness of some natural gas- and coal-fired generators in the PJM Interconnection compared with the same period in 2024. PJM is the largest wholesale electricity market in the United States. The spark and dark spreads, common metrics for estimating the profitability of natural gas- and coal-fired electric generators, have both increased over the past two years.
• U.S. retail gasoline prices fall below $3 per gallon, the lowest since 2021
  05 December 2025
  On December 1, 2025, the U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline fell below $3.00 per gallon (gal) to $2.98/gal, according to data from our Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. When adjusted for inflation, the December 1 price is the lowest average U.S. gasoline price since February 2021.
• Geopolitical developments contribute to elevated diesel prices
  03 December 2025
  Global refinery margins for diesel have widened since late October and increased to their highest level all year, following refinery outages in Russia and in the Middle East and new sanctions on Russia's crude oil, leading to limited refinery production and a decreased global diesel supply. The impact was most pronounced in the Atlantic Basin, contributing to higher prices at the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) shipping hub, a key benchmark for European prices, as well as at New York Harbor and the U.S. Gulf Coast. The higher global prices also affected prices in the United States because U.S. refiners can sell into both domestic and international markets.
• Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years
  01 December 2025
  U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of electricity interruptions in 2024, or nearly twice as many as the annual average experienced in the decade before, according to our Electric Power Annual 2024 report. Major events such as Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton accounted for 80% of the hours without electricity in 2024.
• U.S. average gasoline prices this Thanksgiving are about the same as last year
  26 November 2025
  On the Monday before Thanksgiving, the U.S. retail price for regular-grade gasoline averaged $3.06 per gallon (gal), just 2 cents/gal higher than the same time last year. After adjusting for inflation, however, this year marks the lowest average gasoline price for the Monday before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend since 2020, when the pandemic disrupted gasoline demand and travel plans.
• Natural gas use for electricity in California falls as solar generation rises
  24 November 2025
  Although natural gas generation still provides more electricity than any other source in California, electricity generation from natural gas has decreased over the past several years while generation from solar has increased.
• U.S. associated natural gas production increased 6% in 2024
  21 November 2025
  U.S. production of associated dissolved natural gas, also known as associated natural gas, increased by 6% last year, mirroring the growth in crude oil production from the Permian region. Associated natural gas production averaged 18.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2024, according to data from Enverus DrillingInfo.