U.S. Seaborne Crude Oil Exports Hit a Record High

According to the latest data from BIMCO, U.S. crude oil exports have increased month by month since August 2018, reaching a record 9.6 million tons in January.

The rise in exports in January was largely driven by sales in Europe, which rose to 4.8 million tons in January from 2.8 million tons in December.

Exports for the whole of 2018 reached 8.74 million tons, up 96.7 percent from 4.44 million tons in 2017. BIMCO said this would be good news for the original plate, equating to an additional 143 VLCC vessels (300,000 DWT) or 287 Suez-type vessels (150,000 DWT).

In January 2019, the Netherlands became the biggest importer of American crude oil, surpassing even Canada, which does not solely import by sea. In addition, South Korea was the top importer of crude oil by sea in 2018, after falling to fourth place in January of 2019. China was the largest importer until the summer of 2018, accounting for 23.3 percent of U.S. seaborne exports in the first half of 2018, but that fell to zero in January.

While U.S. crude oil exports hit a record high in January, demand for miles per ton fell from its peak in December 2018. U.S. seaborne crude oil exports that needed 83.8 billion tons of miles in December, have seen the oil go down to 19.7 percent to 67.3 billion tons in January, but still double the amount in January 2017.

A smaller share of exports to Asia means a shorter voyage. Since China suspended imports from the United States, South Korea has taken over crude oil destined for China. Total U.S. exports to South Korea rose 318 percent in 2018 from 2017, making the country the largest buyer of seaborne crude oil.

Higher crude exports mean higher demand for crude oil-related equipment. This will also mean an increase in oil and gas-related business volumes. It can be predicted that 2019 will be a promising year for our customers and Allyn.

Contributor: Cloris Xu 

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About Allyn International 

Allyn International is dedicated to providing high quality, customer centric services and solutions for the global marketplace. Allyn's core products include transportation management, logistics sourcing, freight forwarding, supply chain consulting, tax management and global trade compliance. Allyn clients range from small local businesses to Fortune 500 firms. Allyn conducts business in more than 20 languages and has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets. Highly trained experts are positioned throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Allyn’s regional headquarters are strategically located in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.A., Shanghai, P.R. China and Prague, Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.allynintl.com.