Send As energy use surges with a rebounding economy, coal is making a nominal comeback in electricity generation as utilities adjust to costlier natural gas, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Tuesday from Washington. Crude oil prices stayed at a relatively high $65 a barrel as demand rose in areas where COVID-19 is retreating, like the United States, and yet falling in areas like India, where the virus is now rampant. The EIA's short-term energy outlook for May says that America's gross domestic product, down 3.5% in 2020 compared with the year before, will surge 6.2% this year and 4.3% in 2022. The EIA's forecast assumes continuing economic growth and continued easing of pandemic restrictions on commerce.