U.S. import from OPEC nations drops

THE United State’s crude imports from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member countries dropped has by 200 tbpd or eight per cent and accounted for 32 per cent of total US crude imports.

OPEC, which made this disclosure in its monthly report for April, stated that US product imports from OPEC Member Countries dropped as well from a month earlier to stand at 219 tbpd, representing a share of 10 per cent of the total amount of products imported by the US and a decline of 45 per cent from the same month last year.

Besides, the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated that U.S. crude oil imports have declined since 2010, with nearly all of the decline occurring in Nigeria’s light sweet grades. “In particular, U.S. light crude imports fell by 70.5 per cent between 2010 and the year-to-date 2014 through August, to only 652,000 bblpd.

The EIA disclosed that imports of light crude from Africa have declined by 92.7 per cent, particularly from Nigeria and Algeria. Imports from Saudi Arabia have varied as that country continues to fulfill its role as swing producer and has adjusted its supplies of light crude to the U.S. according to changes in other producing areas such as Libya.

Nigeria has since explored other source crude oil export

According OPEC, as for the product supplier share, Canada and Russia maintained their positions as the first and second suppliers to the US with a share of 34 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.

It stated: “Imports from both countries were up from the previous month by 133 tbpd and 11 tbpd, respectively.

“The United Kingdom came in as the third largest product supplier to the US with a similar level of imports from what it had the previous month.

“In January, US crude imports from North America averaged 3.2 mbpd, making North America the top region for US crude imports, followed by Latin America, which stood at 2.4 mbpd in January, while the Middle East was the third region with an average of 1.3 mbpd. Imports from Africa were down from last month to stand at 185 tbpd, while imports from Asia dropped by 32 tbpd to average 28 tbpd.

OPEC said that the demand for oil – its oil – will rise during 2015 because the cartel is winning its price war against US shale producers by driving them out of business.

“Higher global refinery runs, driven by increased seasonal demand, along with the improvement in refinery margins, are likely to increase demand for crude oil over the coming months.

Africa’s oil supply in 2014 is estimated to have grown by 20 tbpd to average 2.42 mbpd, unchanged from the previous MOMR. On a quarterly basis, Africa’s supply in 2014 is expected to stand at 2.44 mbpd, 2.41 mbpd, 2.40 mbpd and 2.41 mbpd, respectively.

Oil production from non-OPEC producers in Africa is expected to decline by 10 tbpd to average 2.41 mbpd. This indicates a downward revision by 10 tbd compared with the last monthly report. Some growth is forecast in Congo as well as Equatorial Guinea at 10 tbpd each.
On other subjects, OPEC produced 30.79 million barrels of oil per day in March, 800,000 more barrels than in February, the report said, citing not its own members but independent sources including industry sources, oil analysts and shippers.

It said this increase can be attributed to Saudi Arabia, which increased its output, as well as strong production in Iraq and increased production in war-torn Libya.

As for global demand for OPEC’s own crude oil, the report said it would rise only marginally to an average level of about 29.3 million barrels a day this year. “Almost two thirds of 2015 oil demand growth is seen coming from China, Other Asia [Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand] and the Middle East,” the report said.