Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 4

Innovation, Leadership, Performance. At Occidental, our top-performing teams use innovative techniques and technologies to maximize oil and gas production. Visit Oxy.com to learn more. Utah_Petroleum_Association_Quarterly_7.5x4.6.25_Dec2019.indd 1 12/5/2019 10:42:53 AM In our June Outlook, we reported 5.7% less electricity consumption in the United States in 2020 than in 2019. The biggest declines occur in the commer- cial sector, although we expect all sectors to purchase less electricity this year. For residential customers, milder expected temperatures compared with 2019 reduce our outlook for space heating and cooling. These milder temperatures more than offset increased use of residential electricity as more people work and spend more time at home while social distancing guidelines remain in place. We forecast retail electricity prices for all the residential sector to increase slightly, while the commercial and industrial sector retail electricity prices will fall by about 1% in 2020. Our Outlook also reports that U.S. coal production will fall by 25% in 2020, the result of both decreasing demand for U.S. coal exports and declining coal-fired electric power generation in the United States. Metallurgical coal mines in Appalachia have slowed production as a result of reduced demand for coking coal for global steel production, while production in the West declines, in part, because of slowing demand for steam coal from key importers such as India. In addition to our Short-Term Energy Outlook, we have published new analysis and data products to improve the public’s understanding of energy markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, changes in petroleum product demand and relatively slower changes in crude oil production led to rapid increases in U.S. petroleum inventories in March and April. This sudden increase quickly diminished available crude oil storage capacity in the United States and caused concern among market participants, which added to uncertainty in the market. In response to these concerns, including those shared by Chairman Murkowski in her letter to the EIA Administrator on March 31, in early April, EIA began to track and update U.S. crude oil storage utilization in a Weekly U.S. and Regional Crude Oil Stocks and Working Storage Capacity report. We have also published a number of articles in our Today in Energy series that explain how information in various EIA products can help the public under- stand what is happening in energy markets. These articles include in-depth explanations of key petroleum data products, such as the Weekly Petroleum Status Report and the Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. We also published articles on natural gas and electricity, including articles on the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report and the Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. We will continue to monitor events in energy markets globally and continue to update our monthly short-term forecast to reflect our developing understanding of the effects of the mitigation efforts related to COVID-19 on the energy economy. Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present this information, and this concludes my testimony. The Deputy Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Stephen Nalley, delivered a statement to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate on June 16, 2020. While the assessment of the energy sector continues to evolve and more recent updates can be found in the EIA monthly and weekly update reports, we wanted to share Mr. Nalley's high level summary of the impacts of COVID-19 on the energy sector. The biggest declines occur in the commercial sector, although we expect all sectors to purchase less electricity this year. For residential customers, milder expected temperatures compared with 2019 reduce our outlook for space heating and cooling. 21 UP DATE