On December 26, 2024, Plaquemines LNG—the eighth liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in the United States—shipped its first cargo after achieving first LNG production in mid-December. Plaquemines LNG is one of two U.S. LNG export terminals that started LNG production in 2024. Corpus Christi Stage 3 (an expansion of the existing Corpus Christi LNG export terminal) also began LNG production in December 2024.

Japanese utilities restarted two additional nuclear reactors in 2024 that had been suspended from operations in response to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident, taking the total number of restarted reactors to 14 since the accident. In November, Tohoku Electric Power Co. restarted its 796-megawatt (MW) Onagawa Unit 2 reactor, and in December Chugoku Electric Power Co. restarted its Shimane Unit 2 (789 MW). Onagawa is the nuclear power plant located closest to the epicenter of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In 2024, the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub natural gas spot price averaged $2.21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), the lowest average annual price in inflation-adjusted dollars ever reported. The annual average Henry Hub natural gas spot price in 2024 decreased by 16% from its 2023 average and 68% from its 2022 average, the largest two-year decline on record. The monthly average Henry Hub spot natural gas price in 2024 ranged from $3.25/MMBtu in January to an all-time low of $1.51/MMBtu in March, reflecting a narrower $1.74/MMBtu range of monthly prices across the year than the average range of $2.32/MMBtu over the prior five years.

The U.S. retail price for regular grade gasoline averaged $3.30 per gallon (gal) in 2024, $0.21/gal less than in 2023. Lower crude oil prices and narrower refinery margins in 2024 than in 2023 both contributed to the decrease in U.S. retail gasoline prices, according to data from our Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. From the first week of 2024 through the last week, national average weekly gasoline prices decreased $0.08/gal.

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures prices averaged $80 per barrel (b) in 2024, $2/b less than in 2023. Intraday prices stayed within a $24/b range, between $68/b and $93/b (after rounding), which was the narrowest trading range since 2019. Adjusting the trading range for inflation, last year was the narrowest since 2003. Strong global growth in production of oil and slower demand growth put downward pressure on prices, while heightened geopolitical risks and voluntary production restrictions among OPEC+ members supported them. These offsetting factors kept oil prices within a narrow range.

Crude oil production in the U.S. Lower 48 (L48) states, which excludes Alaska and offshore production, reached a record 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in November 2024, according to our estimate in the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) published on December 10. Crude oil production in the L48 states increased 3% year over year despite fewer active rigs in most major producing regions, demonstrating gains in operational efficiency.

Electricity routinely flows among the Lower 48 states, with almost 10% of U.S. electricity generation traded across state lines. Generation of electricity exceeds its consumption in 25 states, and excess electricity is transmitted across state lines. In 2023, utilities in Virginia brought in the most electricity from other states, with 50.1 million megawatthours (MWh) in net electricity interstate receipts, or 36% of the state's total electricity supply. Generators in Pennsylvania moved the most electricity outside state borders in 2023, with 83.4 million MWh of power shipped out, or 26% of generation in Pennsylvania.

India has emerged as the leading source of growth in global oil consumption in 2024 and 2025, overtaking China this year, according to our December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). China's oil consumption grew by more than India's in almost every year from 1998 through 2023, with China's oil consumption regularly growing more than any other country during those years.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Gasoline Sulfur program sets limits on the sulfur content of gasoline sold in the United States, with the aim of reducing a variety of vehicle emissions. The program relies on tradable credits that allow U.S. refiners and gasoline importers to reach compliance with sulfur specifications. For the second year in a row, in 2023, gasoline suppliers obtained and retired more sulfur credits than they generated, a trend that could increase supplier compliance costs and the price of octane in gasoline if it continues.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which ran from June 1 through November 30, exhibited above-average activity with more named storms and hurricanes than usual, including several that disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure, primarily on the Gulf Coast and in the Southeast. Energy impacts from hurricanes this season were most notable in electricity markets, although Hurricanes Francine, Helene, and Rafael forced some oil and natural gas production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut in.

Electricity consumption in the U.S. Lower 48 states is highly seasonal; the demand for electricity peaks in the summer and the winter in response to more extreme temperatures and decreases in the spring and fall, in the so-called shoulder seasons, when weather is generally milder. Electric utilities and owners of power-generating assets perform maintenance on power plants during shoulder seasons because of less electricity demand that means that the system generally doesn't need to be operating at full capacity.

The U.S. benchmark Henry Hub daily natural gas price fell to $1.21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) 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/MMBtu, the lowest average price for that month ever when adjusting for inflation.

Second-quarter 2024 financial results for 34 publicly traded U.S. oil exploration and production (E&P) 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.

Five states produced more than 70% of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023. Texas accounted for 28% of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Monthly, followed by Pennsylvania (18%), Louisiana (10%), West Virginia (8%), and New Mexico (8%). 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.

On October 14, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed bill Abx2-1 into law, empowering California regulators to set and adjust minimum petroleum product inventory levels for refiners in the state, in part to address the state's fuel price volatility. Shortly after, refiner Phillips 66 announced plans to close its Wilmington refinery in Los Angeles by the end of 2025, citing uncertainty surrounding the long-term sustainability of the refinery.

Crude oil and natural gas production in Argentina are both nearing record highs, driven by increasing output from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, which is offsetting declining output from conventional oil and natural gas fields. From January 2021 through September 2024, crude oil production in Argentina increased by 50%, and natural gas production rose by 27%, lifting output of both fuels near the records set in the early 2000s, according to data from the country's energy ministry, the Secretaría de Energía de la República Argentina (SESCO).

The share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales in the United States increased again in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), reaching a record. Combined sales of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increased from 19.1% of total new light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales in the United States in 2Q24 to 21.1% in 3Q24, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence.

In 2024, the U.S. East Coast became a consistent destination for small volumes of renewable diesel as a few suppliers and local governments began offering or consuming the fuel. Because no renewable diesel is produced on the East Coast, suppliers and local governments are procuring their supply from a combination of imports and interregional U.S. shipments.

Working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 states ended the natural gas injection season with 3,922 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to estimates based on data from our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on November 7. U.S. inventories are starting winter 2024–25 with the most natural gas since 2016. Inventories are currently 6% above the five-year (2019–23) average, despite less-than-average injections into storage throughout the entire injection season, which runs April 1 through October 31. Less natural gas than the five-year average was injected in nearly every week during the 2024 injection season, in part because starting inventories were relatively full.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, the retail price of regular gasoline averaged $3.04 per gallon (gal) across the United States, 7% less than the same time last year. Retail gasoline prices this Thanksgiving are at their lowest since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted gasoline demand.