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In first, US Gulf Coast refiners import more crude from Canada than Venezuela: EIA

https://www.chemnet.com   Apr 02,2018 Platts
US Gulf Coast refiners in January imported more crude oil from Canada than from Venezuela, a historic first, the US Energy Information Administration said Friday.

Gulf Coast refiners imported an average of 448,000 b/d of Canadian crude in January, compared with 438,000 b/d from Venezuela, the EIA said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly report.

Five years ago, US Gulf Coast refiners were importing over 1 million b/d of Venezuelan crude and only 90,000 b/d of Canadian crude. But that gap has been steadily closing, a shift accelerated by Venezuela's economic collapse and declining production.

The Trump administration has weighed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector, but has held off due partly due to the impact sanctions may have on US refiners.

On March 19, the Trump administration banned the use of the Venezuela-issued digital currency known as the petro in an attempt to pressure the Maduro regime ahead of May's controversial presidential election.

According to EIA's report Friday, the US' January crude imports from Venezuela were up 1,000 b/d from December, but down from January 2017 by 266,000 b/d, a drop of about 38%.

Some additional highlights from Friday's report:

* The US imported just over 3 million b/d of OPEC crude in January, down 784,000 b/d from January 2017 and less than half the recent peak of 6.4 million b/d of US imports of OPEC crude in August 2008.

* US imports of Saudi crude averaged 744,000 b/d in January, down from 1.35 million b/d a year earlier, but above the recent low of 676,000 b/d in September, which was the lowest level of Saudi crude imports since November 1987.

* US crude oil exports averaged 1.34 million b/d in January, down 389,000 b/d from the all-time high reached in October.

* The US exported 356,000 b/d to Canada in January, the top destination for the month, and 313,000 b/d to China, the number two importer of US crude that month. In total, the US exported crude to 16 countries in January.

* The US exported 574,000 b/d of finished motor gasoline to Mexico in January, down 81,000 b/d from November when gasoline shipments to Mexico hit an all-time high.
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