U.S. crude oil exports rose to 591,000 barrels per day in April, up 83,000 barrels from March, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau on Friday.
The total figures are the highest since at least 1920, Rigzone reports.
A majority of the crude - 324,000 bpd of it - went to Canada, 90,000 more went to Curacao and 36,000 others went to the Bahamas.
The figures come almost six months after the U.S. government lifted restrictions on crude exports. Related: Does Iran Have The Upper Hand In OPEC Oil War
Three months after the authorities lifted the four-decade ban, the U.S. had exported less in the first quarter of 2016 than it did over the same period the year before, when the ban was still in place.
The immediate beneficiaries of the ban suspension are gas and oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil-among the most tireless lobbyers against the ban-and oil trading giants such as Vitol Group BV and Trafigura Ltd.
Exxon became the first U.S. oil company to export U.S. crude, sending a tanker from Texas to a refinery it owns in Italy.
Israel, China and other countries have also placed orders for energy supplies from American markets. Related: Oil Up As Global Outages Seriously Impact Crude Supplies
Europe and Asia are flooded with oil from Russia and the Middle East, though the first two shipments to leave the U.S. post-export ban went to Europe: one to Germany and the other to France, to be used in a refinery in Switzerland. Dutch media outlets reported in January that a tanker from Houston had reached Rotterdam port, but this remains just a drop in the global export bucket.
The Census releases international oil trade data weeks earlier than the U.S. Energy information Administration. The EIA uses the Census' data to price its analysis, which will be released at the end of this month.
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on… More
Comments
This situation brings to mind the adage, “watch what you ask for boys, you may not like what you get”. One can’t help but wonder, at least this one can’t, how “Mr. Exxon”, “Mr. Chevron” and all the other related lobbyist that pushed and slush funded the repeal of the oil export band are feeling right about now.
In repealing the 40 year US band on domestic oil exports, the majors have simultaneously opened the door to foreign plundering and exporting of their major revenue producing resource and “urinated off” OPEC which had enjoyed the “no compete” status afforded by the 40 year ban.
Way to go boys. After the 1980’s oil crash, when drilling dropped from high of 4200 rigs to less than 1500 in less than a year, I felt the possibility of self ruination by the major oil participants was slim to none. Oh, but what a change a generation can make! Congratulations, y’all have managed to “screw the oil industry up again”. My regards, may y’all rot in hell!