U.S. production of all types of coal has declined over the past two decades
In 2023, the United States produced 578 million short tons (MMst) of coal, or less than half of the amount produced in 2008 when U.S. coal production peaked, according to our most recent Annual Coal Report. The production decline is spread almost evenly across each type of coal and continued in 2024. Rising mining costs, increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and competition from other sources of electric power generation have contributed to domestic coal production declines.
U.S. propane consumption reached an 18-year record in January amid cold snap
U.S. propane consumption reached 1.48 million barrels per day (b/d) in January 2025, the most January consumption on record since January 2005 and the most for any month since February 2007, as severe cold drove up heating demand across much of the country.
How will the start-up timing of the new U.S. LNG export facilities affect our forecast?
U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) represent the largest source of natural gas demand growth in our March 2025 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), with LNG gross exports expected to increase by 19% to 14.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2025 and by 15% to 16.4 Bcf/d in 2026. The start-up timing of two new LNG export facilities—Plaquemines LNG Phase 2 (consisting of 18 midscale trains) and Golden Pass LNG—could significantly affect our forecast because these facilities represent 19% of incremental U.S. LNG export capacity in 2025–26.
U.S. uranium production in 2024 was highest in six years
Companies in the United States produced more uranium concentrate in 2024 than in any year since 2018 after a sustained period of higher uranium prices spurred production, according to our recently published Domestic Uranium Production Report—Quarterly. The increase largely came from two in—situ recovery facilities, one in Texas and one in Wyoming, and the resumption of uranium production at White Mesa Mill in Utah, the only operational uranium mill in the United States. Production in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone was higher than the total annual production for each of the years in 2019–23.