The US exported crude oil to China for the first time since November 2005 in January, according to data the Energy Information Administration released Thursday.
US crude oil exports to China averaged 9,000 b/d in January, the EIA's data showed, representing 12.3% of the US's total crude exports.
The other 87.7% of US crude oil exports -- 64,000 b/d -- was sent to Canada.
January's crude shipments mark the first significant exports not bound for Canada since Costa Rica received 334,000 barrels of US crude in July 2011, EIA data shows. Mexico received 5,000 barrels in May 2012. This marks the first shipments to Asia since September 2006 when 24,000 barrels were exported to South Korea.
Exports of crude oil have been heavily regulated in the US since the oil embargo in the 1970s. Monthly crude exports ticked up through much of the 1980s and 1990s, but fell back sharply in 2000.
Between 2000 and 2008, US crude oil exports were negligible. However, exports -- primarily to Canada -- have gradually moved up as domestic production has boomed.
In January, US crude oil production stood at 7.005 million b/d, down 59,000 b/d from December's 7.064 million b/d, but still at levels not seen since 1992.
