U.S.

Energy Profile

The United States is the second largest producer and consumer of energy in the world, behind
China.9 U.S. primary energy consumption (see Figure 1) has held relatively steady since 2000,
increasing by 2% by 2019; however, the fuel mix has changed. While oil has remained at almost 40%
of the fuel mix, natural gas and renewables have increased in both percentage and absolute terms
while coal consumption declined. Nuclear generation has stayed flat. U.S. energy production
between 2000 and 2019 increased 42%, altering the previous position of the United States as a
growing importer of energy. (See Figure 1.) Oil production has increased by 106% during the time
frame, the largest increase of all fuel types. Renewable energy production (including hydropower)
has risen the next fastest, growing 91%, followed by natural gas production at 87%. The increase in
production of oil and natural gas resources comes from innovations in extraction from
unconventional (or tight) formations, such as shale (see shaded box below, “Unconventional Shale
Resources Make the Difference”). Domestic coal production, on the other hand, has declined during
the same period by about 37%. 9 BP, Statistical Review of World Energy, 2020, p. 8. U.S. Energy in the
21st Century: A Primer Congressional Research Service 4 Figure 1. U.S. Primary Energy Consumption
and Production by Fuel 2000-2019 Quadrillion Btu (Quads) Sources: Data compiled by CRS from U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA), Monthly Energy Review, October 27, 2020, Table 1.3,
“Primary Energy Consumption by Source”; and EIA, Monthly Energy Review, October 27, 2020, Table
1.2, “Primary Energy Production by Source.” Note: Renewables include hydropower, geothermal,
solar, wind, and biomass (including biofuels). The change in the U.S. consumption fuel mix has
occurred primarily in the electricity sector where fuel substitutes are more readily available (see
“The Electric Power Sector: In Transition”). Electric power generation in 2019 came from coal (23%),
natural gas (38%), nuclear (19%), renewables (18%),10 and petroleum (