EIA Energy Outlook Projects U.S. as Net Energy Exporter by 2022

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018) this week. The report provides energy market projections under a number of difference scenarios, including low and high economic growth and oil prices, to give a comprehensive overview of the future of the energy market. These projections are modeled based on what “may happen given certain assumptions and methodologies” but are not to be viewed as official predictions.

The U.S. has been a net importer of energy since 1953, but AEO2018 hypothesizes that this is soon to change, with the U.S. due to become a net energy exporter by 2022. Depending on factors such as oil prices and natural gas production, these shift could happen even earlier, creating “a very different set of expectations than we imagined even five or ten years ago,” EIA Administrator Linda Capuano explained.

Along with these model projections, the report presents several other key findings, theorizing that an uptick in energy efficiency initiatives in the U.S. will lessen the demand for energy. The report also predicts that the “production of U.S. liquids and natural gas continues to grow through 2042 and 2050, respectively.”

While it is important to understand that these are models subject to limitation in their forecasting ability, Capuano said that the results show, “The United States energy system continues to undergo an incredible transformation.”

To view the full report, click here: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/AEO2018_FINAL_PDF.pdf