OpeOluwani Akintayo
04 December 2019, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Nigeria’s crude oil exports to the United States dropped by almost 50, 000 barrels per day last December, as the latter gradually fades out on crude oil importation from other countries.
According to market intelligence firm Kepler and data from Refinitiv Eikon seen by SweetcrudeReports, Nigeria’s export to the country shipped 103,000 bpd to the U.S, down by 48,000b/d.
Nigeria’s 48, 000b/d drop in oil export to the country, is just a portion when compared to OPEC’s overall export to the U.S which dipped to the lowest in five years, same month.
The United States is beginning to cut down on oil imports due to Shale boom in its country. According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration, EIA, the country’s oil imports generally fell from 262.8 million barrels per month in January 2017, to 226.6 million in October 2018, while its commercial crude stocks rose to 441 million barrels in the week ended December 21, up from 394 million barrels in mid-September.
Statistics said OPEC exported a total of 1.63 million bpd of oil to the US December, down from 1.80 million bpd in November and 1.78 million bpd in October.
While Saudi Arabia shipped 534,000 barrels per day to the United States in December- a drop of nearly 100,000 bpd from 632,000 in November, Algeria’s export to the country was reduced by almost Algeria’s shipments were reduced to 10, 000b/d down by a huge 94,000 bpd.
However, the U.S took in more of Iraq crude oil- increasing by 140,000 bpd, likewise, Venezuela’s shipping to the country increased by 22,738 barrels per day in December.
It might have looked like Venezuela had an upper hand with the U.S last December however, data from the EIA, showed that there had been a decrease in its export to the U.S since 2012. Venezuela’s oil exports to the US was around 912,000 bpd in 2012, falling to 618, 000bpd by 2017, while that of Canada, according to the EIA, is between 3.3mb/d and 3.5mb/d for 2017 and 2018.
Even Saudi Arabia’s export to the U.S fell in recent- from 1.361 million bpd in 2012 to 1.052 million bpd in 2015, and then to 949,000 bpd by 2017.
OPEC and its partners in December agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day- 800, 000bp/d by OPEC members, and 200, 000b/d by non-OPEC members.
A survey by Reuters showed that OPEC produced 32.68 million bpd in December, down by 460,000 bpd in November, indicating that some members are already reducing exports ahead of the cuts which ought to kick off this month.
