The US exported a record 1.5m barrels per day of crude oil last week, government data showed, a sum larger than the output of several Opec member countries.
The data underlined the US’s new prominence in world oil markets as higher prices revive production from shale fields, and cargoes can freely travel in and out of the country with the end of 40-year-old restrictions on exports in 2015.
Tankers laden with crude have been loaded on the Gulf of Mexico coast and shipped to destinations including Canada, Europe and Asia. Volumes dipped after Hurricane Harvey shut down ports in Texas last month, but have since rebounded.
A deepening discount for US grades of oil compared to competing supplies has also made them more attractive to foreign buyers. The 1.491m b/d of exports last week was up from 928,000 b/d a week before.
Crude exports this year have been averaging 783,000 b/d, a 62 per cent increase from 483,000 b/d in the same period of 2016.
Source: www.ft.com
