RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s oil shipments to the United States have declined sharply despite closer ties between the two nations under President Trump.
American imports of Saudi crude dropped 14% last year to 943,000 barrels per day, according to US government statistics. That’s the lowest since 1988, President Reagan’s final year in office.
The United States has less appetite for foreign oil in general. Thanks to the shale boom in places such as Texas and North Dakota, monthly US oil production spiked to a record high late last year. Forecasters believe the United States could eventually overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer.
The United States imported 7.9 million barrels of crude oil a day last year, according to the EIA. That’s down from more than 10 million barrels a day a decade ago, though it’s up a bit from recent years.
Interestingly, Iraq has stepped up its oil shipments to the United States. Iraqi oil imports to the US surpassed Saudi imports in October for the first time since 1985, according to ClipperData.
That trend was even true at the giant Port Arthur refinery in Texas, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s state oil company. In September, the Port Arthur facility shipped more oil from Iraq than Saudi Arabia for the first time ever, according to ClipperData.
