Pardon The Interruption, North Dakota #1 In Per Capita Beer Consumption -- July 7, 2015

A link sent to me by a reader. I had not seen this most recent story but similar stories in the past have shown North Dakota #1 or near the top in this category before. Glad to see we're holding our own. USA Today is reporting:

Despite declining across the United States, beer consumption remains quite high in some states. According to a recent study from Beer Marketer's Insights, a brewing industry trade publisher, North Dakota residents consumed 43.6 gallons of beer per drinking-age adult in 2013, more than any other state.

This was also more than double the 19.6 gallons per adult consumed in Utah, where residents drank the least beer. Based on figures from Beer Marketer's Insights, these are the states where residents drink the most beer.

Here are the states:

1. North Dakota
2. New Hampshire
3. Montana
4. South Dakota
5. Vermont
6. Wisconsin
7. Nevada
8. Maine
9. Nebraska
10. Mississippi
11. Texas

What do these states have in common? With three exceptions, these states did not establish an ObamaCare state exchange. With regard to Utah, it remains undecided (this was based on a map last updated 11/16/12).

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A Repeat From The EIA

I think the EIA posted this some weeks ago, and now they are posting it again. I don't know for sure, but it was released (again?) by the EIA earlier today:

Crude Oil:

“While U.S. crude oil production is expected to decline over the months ahead, total output in 2015 is on track to be the highest in 45 years.”

“The forecast decline in U.S. monthly oil production through early 2016 is the result of low oil prices, which pushed oil companies to reduce their investment in drilling that resulted in the lowest number of rigs drilling for oil in nearly five years.”

Gasoline:

“U.S. gasoline demand will likely top 9 million barrels per day this year for the first time since 2007, which reflects record highway travel.”

“Low gasoline prices and higher employment  will contribute to more driving this year,  boosting U.S. gasoline consumption an estimated 170,000 barrels per day higher than in 2014.”

Natural Gas:

“U.S. natural gas marketed production growth is forecast to slow in 2016, but output is still expected to flow past 80 billion cubic feet per day for the first time.”

“Natural gas production is increasing largely because of more efficient drilling techniques and strong demand for gas in the industrial and electric power sectors.”

“EIA will be able to keep better track of natural gas production as more states were added to its monthly output survey that now covers about 95% of total U.S. gas production.”

Electricity:

“Sustained low natural gas prices have driven the U.S. electricity sector to increasingly shift to that fuel for power generation. “

“Natural gas-fired generation surpassed coal-fired generation for the first time in history this April. A slight shift back to coal generation is expected over the next year in response to projected higher natural gas fuel costs.”

“Higher electricity prices and strong electric cooling demand is expected to increase the typical residential customer’s summer electricity bill by 5.9%.”

Renewables:

“The amount of U.S. electricity generated by wind is expected to increase almost 4% this year and then jump nearly 14% next year, while solar power is forecast to increase 42% and 22%, respectively.”

Coal:

“Coal use in the electric power sector is expected to decline this year, as low natural gas prices make it more economical to run generating units on natural gas even in regions of the country that typically rely on coal-fired power plants.”

With regard to solar power, 42% of 0 is still zero. The amount of electricity generated by solar power in the US as of 2014 rounds to 0% -- when rounding to nearest whole number.

And wind, increasing by 4%! Wow. Gasoline demand in the US increased 3.8% from January, 2015, to March, 2015 earlier this year.

Going back to this data point from above:

“U.S. gasoline demand will likely top 9 million barrels per day this year for the first time since 2007, which reflects record highway travel.”

I'm not sure what was meant by that; it certainly can't be 9 million bbls per day (on average) for the entire year (or can it)? We've already topped 9 million bbls/day earlier this year: back in March, 2015, the US averaged 9.055 million bbls/day. [Note, I often make errors when challenging official sources. If this information is important to you, go to the source.] [Update, July 9, 2015: several months of 9 million + barrels of gasoline/day demand in the US.]

I'm still opining that the US will hit 10 million bbls/day in August, 2015.