BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 11. US crude oil exports reached an all-time high over the first half of 2023, averaging 3.99 million barrels per day, Trend reports.
As the US Energy Information Administration Agency (EIA) said, this remarkable figure is the highest since 2015 when the ban on most US crude oil exports was lifted.
Notably, there was a 19 percent increase, equivalent to 650,000 b/d, in crude oil exports in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, the agency noted.
Meanwhile, Europe emerged as the largest regional importer of US crude oil exports, absorbing 1.75 million b/d, primarily through exports to the Netherlands and the UK. Following closely, Asia ranked second with 1.68 million b/d, primarily fueled by exports to China and South Korea. Additionally, the US shipped comparatively smaller quantities of crude oil to Canada, Africa, Central America, and South America.
Despite the growth in exports during the first half of 2023, the US remains a net importer of crude oil, the EIA noted.
This is partly due to the fact that many US refineries are designed to process heavy, sour crude oil with low API gravity and high sulfur content, rather than the light, sweet crude oil with high API gravity and low sulfur content typically produced domestically, the agency explained.