U.S. crude oil exports averaged 4.3 MMb/d last week, up nearly 1 MMb/d from the prior week, with all regions seeing increased volumes. Houston (dark blue stacked area in chart below) saw the largest gain (+550 Mb/d) after the Houston Ship Channel closed for a day the prior week due to dense fog. This marks a four-week high for U.S. crude oil exports, with last week 340 Mb/d above the year-to-date (YTD) average. The four-week moving average (dashed red line) now sits just below 3.7 MMb/d — 198 Mb/d under the YTD average of nearly 3.9 MMb/d.
Despite the increased volumes last week, the number of tankers loading crude oil for export across Gulf Coast terminals fell by one from the previous week to 25. Of these, five were VLCCs, up one from the prior week. Five VLCCs entered the Gulf Coast for loading, down two from the prior week but in line with the weekly average observed in January. Just three VLCCs departed the Gulf Coast, five less than the previous week and the lowest since the week ended November 22, 2024. Two were headed to Asia (one to Malaysia and one to India) and one to Africa (Nigeria). Notably, the Chevron-chartered Azure Nova was loaded solely from reverse-lightering and is headed to deliver WTI Midland to the Dangote refinery in Lagos, Nigeria. Based on the number of VLCCs awaiting in reverse lightering areas finalizing ship-to-ship transfers, we expect a higher number of VLCCs to depart this week.
