While US crude supply continues to decline, the amount of oil the US is exporting continues to rise, the US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
The US exported an average of 698,000 b/d of crude in the week that ended Friday, more than 8% of the nearly 8.49 million b/d produced in the US over that period. Exports were up 3.1% from the 677,000 b/d average a week earlier, when the US produced nearly 8.55 million b/d.
A year ago, when most restrictions on US crude exports were still in place, the US exported 477,000 b/d, which was about 5% of the nearly 9.22 million b/d that was produced in the US that week.
The amount of US crude exported last week was a record. In the first six months of this year, the US has exported an average of 482,000 b/d of crude.
On December 18, President Barack Obama signed a government spending bill into law that included a provision lifting all limits on US crude exports. The end of these limits, which had been in place for 40 years, was the result of a landmark deal between House of Representatives and Senate leaders.
The EIA crude export data was released in the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report which, for the first time, included much more immediate export data from US Customs and Border Protection. EIA had previously used monthly export data published by the US Census Bureau.
"By using this near real-time data, EIA is able to provide more accurate market balances and a clearer picture of the weekly consumption of key petroleum products in the United States," said EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski in a statement Wednesday.
