US Energy Information Administration

2020 was a year of turmoil for the upstream industry in the US, while 2021 proved to be a year of recovery.

The energy transition may drive a massive increase in renewable-power capacity in the electric market, but global demand growth is expected to be so strong, liquid fuel consumption could also be much higher in 2050.

Forecasts for oil demand are looking up. Will the optimistic views prove to be on target? We have learned how the market can shift or wildly careen, both historically and in the very recent past. The outlooks, which reflect a consensus of sorts, is encouraging for producers.

Thanks to a resilient natural gas market, the US led all other nations in hydrocarbon production in terms of total energy output.

The confluence of a pandemic, a price war, and extreme weather sent the US production engine into reverse last year, marking the largest annual drop in output on record. New figures on the decline come as the market senses higher oil prices coming.

This year gas is expected to look only a bit better, but after 2019 that is a relief.

The good news for next year is no one is predicting a repeat of what happened this year. The bad news is the outlooks offers little incentive to find any more oil.

The drop in US LNG exports comes amid a combination of weak demand, ample supply, additional capacity coming on line, and flexibility to cancel US cargoes.

The recent increase in global liquid fuel inventory has been largely driven by travel restrictions, and reduced economic activity. Supply is expected come back down as demand and prices recover.

US energy-related carbon dioxide emissions declined by 2.8% in 2019 to 5,130 million metric tons, according to data in the US Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review. Carbon dioxide emissions had increased by 2.9% in 2018, the only annual increase in the past 5 years.