OPEC Sends Fewer Oil Cargo to US

OPEC crude cargoes leaving for the United States in December dropped to the lowest level in at least five years, data from Refinitiv Eikon and market intelligence firm Kpler show.
Oil cargoes departing from OPEC nations to the United States fell to 1.63 million barrels per day last month, down from 1.80 million bpd in November and 1.78 million bpd in October, the data show, Reuters reported. 
Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and several others curbed supplies in the face of rising US production and inventories, analysts said. 
“Some of it was a decline in OPEC production,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston. “But they’re facing competition from US shale and Canadian production.” 
OPEC and allies including Russia agreed last month to cut crude production beginning this month by 1.2 million bpd.
OPEC pumped 32.68 million bpd last month, according to a Reuters survey, down 460,000 bpd from November. 
“Historically, Saudi Arabia has utilized crude export flows to the United States as a method of signaling the Kingdom’s intentions, given the transparency of the US market,” said Reid I’Anson, an energy economist at Kpler. 
US gasoline and distillate inventories rose sharply last week as refineries ramped up activity, while crude oil stocks were barely changed, the Energy Information Administration said on Saturday.