24 February 2017, Sweetcrude, Houston — The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (www.eia.gov) has analysed how crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq may become less attractive to U.S. oil refiners.
The EIA noted that the “U.S. crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, two of the United States’ main sources for imported crude oil, have risen since reaching relatively low points in 2014 and 2015.
On a combined basis, crude oil imports from these countries are the highest since late 2012.
However, recent market developments, including the November 2016 agreement among certain members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce production and the recent widening of price differences between Dubai/Oman crude oil and U.S.-produced Mars crude oil, suggest that U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq are now becoming less attractive to U.S. refiners,” the EIA disclosed.