Forecast Highlights

  • This edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) is the first to include forecasts for 2022.
  • The January STEO remains subject to heightened levels of uncertainty because responses to COVID-19 continue to evolve. Reduced economic activity and changes to consumer behavior in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused energy demand and supply to decline in 2020. The ongoing pandemic and the success of vaccination programs will continue to affect energy use in the future.
  • Economic assumptions are among the most important drivers of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecasts. EIA’s U.S. macroeconomic assumptions are based on forecasts by IHS Markit and EIA’s global economic assumptions are based on forecasts from Oxford Economics. After falling by 3.5% in 2020, IHS Markit forecasts that U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) will increase by 4.2% in 2021 and 3.8% in 2022. Rising GDP contributes to EIA’s forecast of rising total energy use in the United States during 2021 and 2022. After falling by 7.8% in 2020, EIA forecasts that total U.S. energy consumption will rise by 2.6% in 2021 and by 2.5% in 2022, reaching 97.3 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), 3.0 quads less than in 2019.
  • EIA forecasts Brent crude oil spot prices to average $53 per barrel (b) in both 2021 and 2022 compared with an average of $42/b in 2020.
  • EIA estimates that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels averaged 92.2 million barrels per day (b/d) for all of 2020, down by 9.0 million b/d from 2019. EIA expects global liquid fuels consumption will grow by 5.6 million b/d in 2021 and 3.3 million b/d in 2022.
  • EIA forecasts crude oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will average 27.2 million b/d in 2021, up from an estimated 25.6 million b/d in 2020. Forecast growth in output reflects OPEC’s announced increases to production targets and continuing rise in Libya’s production. On January 5, 2021, OPEC and partner countries (OPEC+) announced that they will maintain the previously agreed-upon January 2021 production increase of 0.5 million b/d. The latest OPEC+ agreement also calls for production increases from Russia and Kazakhstan in February and March. However, additional voluntary cuts by Saudi Arabia for February and March result in lower overall OPEC+ production in early 2021. EIA forecasts that OPEC crude oil production will rise by 1.1 million b/d in 2022.
  • EIA estimates global liquid fuels inventories rose at a rate of 6.5 million b/d in the first half of 2020 before declining at a rate of 2.4 million b/d in the second half of 2020. EIA forecasts global inventories will continue to fall in the forecast, declining at a rate of 0.6 million b/d in 2021 and 0.5 million b/d in 2022.
  • U.S. regular gasoline retail prices averaged $2.18 per gallon (gal) in 2020, compared with an average of $2.60/gal in 2019. EIA forecasts motor gasoline prices to average $2.40/gal in 2021 and $2.42/gal in 2022 U.S. diesel fuel prices averaged $2.55/gal in 2020, compared with $3.06/gal in 2019, and EIA forecasts them to average $2.71/gal in 2021 and $2.74/gal in 2022.
  • EIA estimates that U.S. crude oil production fell from the 2019 record level of 12.2 million b/d to 11.3 million b/d in 2020. EIA expects that annual average production will fall to 11.1 million b/d in 2021 before rising to 11.5 million b/d in 2022.
  • U.S. liquid fuels consumption in 2020 averaged 18.1 million b/d, down 2.5 million b/d (12%) from 2019 consumption. EIA forecasts U.S. liquid fuels consumption will rise to 19.5 million b/d in 2021 and then to 20.5 million b/d in 2022 (almost equal to the 2019 level).
  • U.S. working natural gas in storage ended October at more than 3.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), 5% more than the five-year (2015–19) average and the fourth-highest end-of-October level on record. EIA forecasts that declines in U.S. natural gas production this winter compared with last winter will more than offset the declines in natural gas consumption, which will contribute to inventory withdrawals outpacing the five-year average during the remainder of the winter, which ends in March. Forecast natural gas inventories end March 2021 at 1.6 Tcf, 12% lower than the 2016–20 average.
  • EIA estimates that U.S. natural gas consumption averaged 83.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2020, down 2.5% from 2019. EIA expects that natural gas consumption will decline by 2.8% in 2021 and by 2.1% in 2022. Most of the decline in natural gas consumption is the result of less natural gas use in the power sector, which EIA forecasts to decline because of rising natural gas prices. These declines are partly offset by rising natural gas use in other sectors.
  • EIA estimates that 2020 dry natural gas production averaged 90.8 Bcf/d, down 2.5% from 2019. EIA expects U.S. dry natural gas production to average 88.2 Bcf/d in 2021, down by 2.8% from 2020, and then rise to 89.7 Bcf/d in 2022.
  • EIA forecasts that total consumption of electricity in the United States will increase by 1.5% in 2021 after falling by 4.0% in 2020. The pandemic significantly affected electricity consumption in the commercial and industrial sectors in 2020. EIA estimates retail sales of electricity to the two sectors fell by 6.0% and 7.9%, respectively. EIA expects commercial electricity use in 2021 to rise by 0.9% and industrial electricity use to rise by 1.2%. Social distancing guidelines have caused people to spend more time at home, resulting in increased residential electricity use. In 2020, retail sales of electricity to the residential sector were 1.3% higher despite a mild winter earlier in the year. EIA expects residential electricity use will rise by 2.4% in 2021 as colder winter weather leads to more heating demand. Total forecast electricity consumption in 2022 will rise by 1.7%.
  • EIA expects the share of U.S. electric power sector generation from natural gas will decline from 39% in 2020 to 36% in 2021 and 34% in 2022 in response to significantly higher natural gas fuel costs and increased generation from renewable energy sources. Coal’s forecast share of electricity generation will rise from 20% in 2020 to 22% in 2021 and 24% in 2022, which is close to its share in 2019. Electricity generation from renewable energy sources will rise from 20% in 2020 to 21% in 2021 and 23% in 2022. The nuclear share of U.S. generation will decline from 21% in 2020 to 20% in 2021 and 19% in 2022.
  • EIA estimates that total U.S. coal production decreased by 24% to 537 million short tons (MMst) in 2020. This decline largely reflected lower demand for coal from the electric power sector and the coal export market. Lower natural gas prices made coal less competitive for power generation. In 2021, EIA expects coal production to increase by 12% to 603 MMst because of a forecast 41% increase in natural gas prices for electricity generators, making coal more competitive in the electric power sector. EIA forecasts coal production will rise to 628 MMst in 2022.
  • After declining by 11.1% in 2020, EIA forecasts that total energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will increase by 4.7% in 2021 and by 3.2% in 2022. Even with growth over the next two years, forecast CO2 emissions in 2022 remain 3.9% lower than 2019 levels. Energy-related CO2 emissions are sensitive to changes in weather, economic growth, energy prices, and fuel mix.