Exports of crude oil, petroleum products reach record high

Crude oil and propane each reached record-high export levels of 0.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first half of 2017, and distillate exports increased to a record high of 1.3 million b/d.

Canada received the most U.S. crude oil exports at 248,000 b/d in the first half of 2017 but imported an average of 46,000 b/d fewer than in the first half of 2016. China became the second-largest importer of U.S. crude oil, increasing its crude oil imports from the United States by 154,000 b/d.

The removal of restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports in December 2015 led to an increase total volumes of crude oil exports and the number of destinations for those exports both increased. The United States exported crude oil to 26 countries in the first half of 2017 and 17 countries in the first half of 2016.

Distillate exports increased by 14 percent compared to the first half of 2016. Exports to South and Central America accounted for most of the growth. Mexico remained the top destination for U.S. distillate, averaging 17 percent of total exports, followed by Brazil and the Netherlands.

Total U.S. motor gasoline exports averaged a record high of 756,000 b/d, a 3 percent increase from the first half of 2016, in part due to high levels of domestic production.

Mexico received 53 percent of total U.S. gasoline exports in the first half of 2017. Recent market reforms in Mexico may have contributed to this. The reforms allow entities other than state-owned Pemex to import petroleum products.

Propane exports from the United States reached a record high of 913,000 b/d in the first half of 2017, compared to 793,000 b/d in the first half of 2016 — 76 percent of which came from U.S. exports to Asian markets.