Port district of Houston-Galveston became a net exporter of crude oil for the first time in April

The U.S. port district of Houston-Galveston in Texas became a net exporter of crude oil for the first time on record in April and exports continued to increase in comparison to imports in May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

April crude oil exports from Houston-Galveston exceeded crude oil imports by 15,000 barrels per day (b/d). In May, the difference between crude oil exports and imports increased to 470,000 b/d.

Total U.S. crude oil exports increased to a record high of 2 million b/d in May. Since mid-2017, on average, the port district of Houston-Galveston has accounted for slightly more than half of the crude oil exported from the United States. The share rose to a record 70 percent in May.

Houston-Galveston received the second highest amount of U.S. crude oil imports of any U.S. port as of May. Houston-Galveston accounted for 12 percent of total U.S. crude oil imports, while the U.S. port district of Chicago, Illinois, accounted for 19 percent.

Crude oil imported into the Houston-Galveston port district comes primarily from Mexico, South America, and the Middle East. Most of the 2018 crude oil exports from the Houston-Galveston port district have gone to China, Italy, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Ongoing efforts to expand crude oil export infrastructure at the ports of Houston and Corpus Christi have enabled increased export flows. Large spot price spreads between the global crude oil price benchmark of Brent and crude oil priced in Houston, Texas, in April and May could also have contributed to the increase in crude oil exports.