According to vessel tracking data, U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports skyrocketed to a record-breaking 5.9 MMb/d for the week ended May 15 (far right in chart below), underscoring the Gulf’s growing role as the world’s balancing barrel supplier amid heightened geopolitical risk and resilient international demand. As discussed in this week's Crude Voyager, this milestone was driven primarily by exceptional European buying, with exports to Europe alone climbing to an unprecedented 3.3 MMb/d and Dutch imports reaching a historic 1.6 MMb/d. The scale of flows highlights how Atlantic Basin refiners are increasingly leaning on U.S. crude as Middle East supply uncertainty intensifies around the Strait of Hormuz.
Featured Articles
- Blog
How’s It Going to Be – How a Prolonged Conflict with Iran Could Disrupt U.S. Gasoline, Jet and Diesel Markets
The U.S. is seeing softer domestic demand for traditional fuels, but pockets of the country remain highly dependent on imported gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Today, we’ll zero in on which PADDs are at the highest risk for shortages and price spikes if the Iran war drags on for an extended period.
- Blog
Stuck in a (Gulf) You Can’t Get Out Of – The Triple-Whammy Impacts of Iran War on Refined Products
The ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran and the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz isn’t just stranding significant volumes of refined products in the Persian Gulf. It’s also resulting in potentially extensive and long-lasting damage to some refineries there and trapping crude oil that Asian refiners depend on.
- Analyst Insight
U.S. Crude Exports Soar Above 5 MMb/d to Highest Level Since 2023
U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports rose to 5 MMb/d (far right of graph below) for the week ended Friday, April 17, reaching their highest level since September 2023.
