Today in Energy

In 2022, U.S. crude oil exports averaged 3.6 million barrels per day (b/d), a record high according to export data that has been collected since 1920. U.S. crude oil exports in 2022 were 22% (640,000 b/d) higher than in 2021. Increased U.S. crude oil production, releases from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and more global demand for crude oil from countries other than Russia all drove the growth in U.S. crude oil exports.

U.S. natural gas production grew by 4% (4.9 billion cubic feet per day [Bcf/d]) in 2022, averaging 119 Bcf/d. Three regions—Appalachia, Permian, and Haynesville—accounted for 60% of all U.S. production in 2022, similar to the proportion in 2021.

In 2022, 84.8 million short tons (MMst) of coal were exported from the United States, relatively unchanged from the 85.1 MMst exported in 2021. Steam coal accounted for 45% of all U.S. coal exports in 2022; metallurgical coal accounted for 55%.

Last year, the U.S. electric power sector produced 4,090 million megawatthours (MWh) of electric power. In 2022, generation from renewable sources—wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal—surpassed coal-fired generation in the electric power sector for the first time. Renewable generation surpassed nuclear generation for the first time in 2021 and continued to provide more electricity than nuclear generation last year.

In 2020, 61% of U.S. households used natural gas for at least one energy end use, according to our 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Space heating, water heating, and cooking were the most common end uses; more than half of U.S. households used natural gas for space heating, closely followed by water heating.