US Oil Trade - May 2016

In April, preliminary data shows that US crude oil imports averaged 7.8 mb/d, broadly unchanged from last month and up by 606 tb/d from last year. On a y-t-d basis, US crude imports in April were 579 tb/d higher.

US product imports were 289 tb/d higher than the previous month and 52 tb/d higher than the previous year. In April, US product exports were 737 tb/d lower than a month ago, to average 3.6 mb/d. On an annual comparison, product exports were lower than a year before by 710 tb/d. As a result, US total net imports rose in April by 905 tb/d, or 17%, to average 6 mb/d. In February, the top first and second suppliers to the US maintained the same order as previously seen. Canada was the premier crude supplier to the US, accounting for 45% of total US crude imports.

Crude imports from Canada were higher by 112 tb/d from January and averaged 3.6 mb/d. Saudi Arabia came in as the second largest supplier to the US in February and had lower crude exports to the US from the previous month by 46 tb/d. Venezuela was the third top supplier accounting for 10% of total US crude imports as it increased its exports to the US by 76 tb/d from the previous month.

Total crude imports from OPEC Member Countries were higher in February from the previous month, up by 145 tb/d, or 5%, accounting for 37% of total US crude imports. US product imports from OPEC Member Countries were up slightly by 14 tb/d, or 5%, from the previous month, while they remained 30 tb/d, or 11%, lower than the previous year.

Looking at the product supplier share, Canada and Russia maintained their positions as first and second suppliers to the US, accounting for 30% and 20%, respectively. Algeria came in as the third supplier to the US, holding a share of 7%, up by 11 tb/d from the previous month.

The imports by regions remained with no major changes. In February 2015, the US’ largest crude import volumes were sourced from North America, averaging 3.6 mb/d. North America came in as the top region for US crude imports followed by Latin America, which averaged 2.1 mb/d in February. The Middle East came in as the third region with an average of 1.5 mb/d. Imports from Africa, Asia and FSU all increased from one month before to average 547 tb/d, 70 tb/d and 45 tb/d, respectively, in February.

Looking into the imports of each PADD, crude imports by PADD-1 East Coast came from Africa, mainly followed by Latin America and the Middle East to average 323 tb/d, 276 tb/d and 146 tb/d, respectively. Imports from PADD 2 were mostly sourced from North America and stood at 2.5 mb/d, up by 190 tb/d from January. PADD 3 sourced its largest imports from Latin America, however, as seen in the past month, imports from Latin America were down by 23 tb/d to average 1.6 mb/d, while imports from the Middle East were higher by 44 tb/d from last month to average 935 tb/d. PADD 4 only imported from North America and averaged 245 tb/d in February, a decrease of 26 tb/d from the month before. In PADD 5 West Coast, the highest imports came from the Middle East, averaging 490 tb/d in February, followed by Latin America and North America.