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US Doubled Oil Export in 2018

US Doubled Oil Export in 2018
US Doubled Oil Export in 2018

In 2018 US export of crude oil rose to 2.0 million bpd, nearly double the 1.2 million bpd rate in 2017. 
Export volumes by destination changed significantly during the year, as US crude oil exports to China fell and exports to other destinations such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada increased, World Oil reported.
The increase in US crude oil exports was the result of increasing US crude oil production and infrastructure changes. 
Crude oil production in the United States increased 17% to 10.9 million bpd in 2018, with its Gulf Coast states—the departure point for more than 90% of US crude oil exports—producing 7.1 million bpd. 
The increased production is mostly of light, sweet crude oils, but Gulf Coast refineries are configured mostly to process heavy, sour crude oils. This increasing production and mismatch between crude oil type and refinery configuration causes more of US crude oil production to be exported.
In early 2018, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port in the Gulf of Mexico was modified to enable the loading of vessels for crude oil exports. LOOP is currently the only US facility capable of accommodating fully loaded Very Large Crude Carriers, vessels capable of carrying approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil.
After LOOP was modified to also allow exports, the increase in cargo scale led US crude oil exports to surpass 2 million bpd for 25 weeks in 2018 compared with just 1 week in 2017. 

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