Crude oil exports out of the U.S. Gulf Coast rose to nearly 4 MMb/d last week, an increase of 1.1 MMb/d, with increased activity observed in all regions except Louisiana (purple stacked area in chart below). Loaded volumes from week to week continue to see-saw. The four-week moving average (dashed red line) hovers just under 3.8 MMb/d, trailing the year-to-date (YTD) average by 122 Mb/d.
About 10.4 MMbbl, or 45%, of the estimated exports with declared destinations were headed for Europe last week. Another 9.7 MMbbl, or 42%, were declared for Asia. Specifically, we’ve seen activity to India — the world’s third-largest crude oil importer — increase 18% YTD compared to the prior year as the country scales back Russian crude purchases due to U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade. We observed exports to Latin America decreasing week over week to 1.5 MMbbl (or 6%) and exports to Canada remained lower than normal at 850 Mbbl (4%).
Eight VLCCs entered the Gulf Coast last week, about 20% higher than the YTD average. This comes on the heels of 10 VLCCs entering the prior week. This trend suggests that Gulf Coast loading activity could remain elevated next week.
