Author: admin

In-brief analysis

Feb 5, 2026

Working natural gas stocks fell 360 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in the Lower 48 states for the week ending January 30, 2026, amid Winter Storm Fern—the largest weekly net withdrawal reported in the history of the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. The withdrawal exceeded the five-year average for the same week by 89% (170 Bcf). The large withdrawals resulted from increased heating demand for natural gas and natural gas production curtailments because of severe winter weather. Working gas stocks are now 1.1% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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In-brief analysis

Feb 2, 2026

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates, based on Hitachi Velocity Suite

Average wholesale day-ahead electricity prices at most major trading hubs in the Lower 48 states were higher in 2025 than in 2024, driven largely by higher natural gas prices to electric generators. The largest increase in price was $29 per megawatthour (MWh) in New England’s Independent System Operator (ISO-NE), and the largest decrease was $14/MWh in the upper Northwest’s Mid-Columbia.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 30, 2026

Over the past few years, Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE) has relied less on Canada for electricity. On January 16, 2026, the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a 1,200 megawatt (MW) transmission line project, began commercial operation. The new high-voltage direct current NECEC transmission line is primarily intended to increase the amount of hydroelectric power exported from Canada to New England. However, during Winter Storm Fern, New England exported more electricity to Canada than it imported.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 29, 2026

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Hourly Electric Grid Monitor

Although petroleum accounts for less than 1% of total U.S. utility-scale electric power generation, regions such as New England rely on oil-fired units during winter periods when cold weather creates high demand. When Winter Storm Fern affected New England this week, petroleum was the predominant energy source starting around midday on January 24 and lasting until early morning on January 26. Since then, petroleum and natural gas have been fluctuating as the primary energy source.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 28, 2026

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

In the week ending January 25, 2026, as Winter Storm Fern affected significant portions of the country, coal-fired electricity generation in the Lower 48 states increased 31% from the previous week. The increase contrasts with coal use in the earlier part of January, which had milder weather and consequently lower coal-fired generation compared with the same period in 2025.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 27, 2026

Data source: Argus Freight

Shipping rates for crude oil tankers were at multi-year highs at the end of 2025 before falling in early 2026. Rates climbed in the fall of 2025 because of increased demand for crude oil shipments, particularly from buyers in East Asia, limiting the number of vessels available for bookings. In this analysis, we look at several key global tanker routes for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers, including the Persian Gulf-to-Asia route and the U.S. Gulf Coast-to-Europe route.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 26, 2026

• Between January 1, 2026, and January 21, 2026, nuclear power plant outages averaged 2.0 gigawatts (GW), 20% less than in the same period in 2025 and below the previous five-year range (2021–25) for 7 out of 21 days.




• Data from our Status of U.S. Nuclear Outages dashboard indicate that nuclear power plant outages in the United States fell to 1.1 GW on January 6, 2026, the lowest since September 2, 2025, and 1.0 GW below the outages on January 6, 2025.




• A large portion of current outages are from the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, which is in the process of restarting. In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy approved a loan to support restarting Palisades, and on September 9, 2025, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission changed the status of the Palisades plant from decommissioning to restarting. The Palisades plant has been operating at 0% since then, and we count it as an outage in our Status of U.S. Nuclear Outages dashboard. On January 6, 2026, the Palisades plant outage accounted for nearly three-quarters of the total U.S. nuclear outages.




• Nuclear power plants in the United States typically serve base load electricity demand, which occurs more or less continuously throughout the day and across seasons.




• Nuclear power plants undergo both planned outages, usually for maintenance and refueling, and unplanned outages, which include weather-related disruptions and early retirements. Planned nuclear power plant outages are seasonal with higher outages in the spring and fall, when electricity demand declines.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 23, 2026

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration and Natural Gas Intelligence

Natural gas daily spot prices at the benchmark Henry Hub rose sharply over the past week, reaching nearly $8.15 per million British thermal units on January 22 as colder weather increased demand for space heating across the country. Higher wholesale natural gas prices generally contribute to higher wholesale electricity prices.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 22, 2026

In our January 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook, we forecast U.S. crude oil production next year will remain near the record 13.6 million barrels per day (b/d) produced in 2025 before decreasing 2% to 13.3 million b/d in 2027. If realized, a fall in annual U.S. crude oil production will mark the first since 2021.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 21, 2026

When military aircraft are retired, they live out their days in the sunbelt at the U.S. Air Force’s facility on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, otherwise known as the Boneyard.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 20, 2026

In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, we forecast retail U.S. gasoline prices will be lower the next two years than in 2025, falling 6% in 2026 and then increasing 1% in 2027. Our gasoline price forecast generally follows a similar path as global crude oil prices, but decreasing U.S. refinery capacity this year may offset some of the effects of lower crude oil prices on gasoline, especially in the West Coast region.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 16, 2026

Electricity generation by the U.S. electric power sector totaled about 4,260 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) in 2025. In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect U.S. electricity generation will grow by 1.1% in 2026 and by 2.6% in 2027, when it reaches an annual total of 4,423 BkWh. The three main dispatchable sources of electricity generation (natural gas, coal, and nuclear) accounted for 75% of total generation in 2025, but we expect the share of generation from these sources will fall to about 72% in 2027. We expect the combined share of generation from solar power and wind power to rise from about 18% in 2025 to about 21% in 2027.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 14, 2026

We expect the U.S. benchmark natural gas spot price at the Henry Hub to decrease about 2% to just under $3.50 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2026 before rising sharply in 2027 to just under $4.60/MMBtu, according to our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). We expect the annual average Henry Hub price in 2026 to decrease slightly as annual supply growth keeps pace with demand growth over the year. However, in 2027, we forecast demand growth will rise faster than supply growth, driven mainly by more feed gas demand from U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, reducing the natural gas in storage. We forecast annual average spot prices will decrease by 2% in 2026 and then increase by 33% in 2027.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 9, 2026

In 2025, the wholesale U.S. natural gas spot price at the national benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana averaged $3.52 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), based on data from LSEG Data. The 2025 average Henry Hub natural gas spot price increased 56% from the 2024 annual average, which—when adjusted for inflation—was the lowest on record. On a daily basis, the Henry Hub natural gas spot price ranged from $2.65/MMBtu to $9.86/MMBtu, reflecting a narrower range of daily prices compared with the previous year.

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In-brief analysis

Jan 7, 2026

The U.S. retail price for regular grade gasoline averaged $3.10 per gallon (gal) in 2025, $0.21/gal less than in 2024. This year marks the third consecutive year of declining nominal retail gasoline prices, according to data from our Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update.

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