US crude oil imports increased in 2016 to an average of 7.9 million barrels per day (b/d).
That’s according to a new report from the US Energy Information Agency, which shows this is 514,000 b/d higher than average levels in 2015.
However, gross crude oil imports in 2016 were still 22% lower than their 2005 high of 10.1 million b/d.
Canada provided a record 3.3 million b/d to the US, around 41% of the total volume imported.
It was the seventh consecutive year of increasing crude oil imports from Canada and the sixth consecutive year of decreasing crude oil imports from Mexico.
Canadian imports were higher than from all Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) combined.
OPEC supplied 40% of the crude oil imported to the US in 2016, up slightly from 36% in 2015. This is still among the lowest US imports from OPEC have ever been.
Imports from Iraq nearly doubled to 418,000 b/d in 2016, and imports from Nigeria almost quadrupled to 210,000 b/d.
US crude oil exports also rose, despite a decline in production. The nation was also the world’s largest net exporter of total refined products in 2016.
The largest onshore US oil discovery in 30 years was recently made in Alaska.
The US could potentially become a net exporter of energy in the next nine years.
Source: Energylivenews.com
