US crude imports fall by 1.877 mil b/d in September: EIA

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28 Nov 2008

US crude imports plunged by 1.877 million b/d in September to hit their lowest monthly import level since February 2000, as hurricanes Gustav and Ike disrupted Gulf Coast refining operations and imports, official US statistics showed this week. The US Energy Information Administration, statistics arm of the Department of Energy, said US crude imports averaged just 8.407 million b/d in September, well below August's 10.284 million b/d. The crude import total for September is the lowest since February 2000, when the US imported 8.318 million b/d of crude.
John Duff, survey manager for the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report, attributed the drop largely to the impact of the hurricanes. "All the refineries were shut down so they weren't taking cargoes for quite a while," Duff said. "Crude imports dropped off substantially."
The latest data also shows a major change in the rankings of the top suppliers, with Nigeria slipping back into sixth place behind Iraq as its exports to the US dived to 508,000 b/d in September from 1.035 million b/d in August.
Nigerian crude exports to the US have been erratic has a result of the turmoil in the Niger Delta, where militants have waged a campaign of attacks on the region's oil infrastructure. They averaged as much as 1.245 million b/d in November 2007 but fell to 741,000 b/d in July but have not been as low as September's 508,000 b/d level since February 2003 when they averaged 505,000 b/d.
Crude volumes from most of the major suppliers fell in September, although Canada increased its exports by 90,000 b/d to 1.923 million b/d and imports from Brazil, Gabon and the UK also rose slightly.
The latest data also shows crude imports from Saudi Arabia dropping to 1.429 million b/d in September from 1.533 million b/d in August, although the kingdom kept its place as second biggest supplier to the US after Canada.
Venezuela took third place, although its exports to the US slipped to 944,000 b/d from August's 1.146 million b/d.
Mexico took fourth place, but its volumes plunged by some 400,000 b/d to 890,000 b/d.
The top five suppliers accounted for 68% of US oil imports in September while the top ten sources--including Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Ecuador and Brazil--accounted for about 88%.
Canada remained the biggest supplier of both crude and refined products in September with an average 2.364 million b/d, up from 2.199 million b/d in August.

Source: Platts