WASHINGTON: The U.S. imported 7 percent more oil in the first half of this year than during the same time last year, the first such increase in six years. Gross crude oil imports grew by 528,000 barrels per day during the first half of 2016, the firt time imports have increased since 2010, according to the Energy Information Administration, the independent analysis arm of the Department of Energy. “This increase reverses a multiyear trend of decreasing U.S. crude oil imports as a result of increasing U.S. production,” Friday’s analysis said.
Imports increased 504,000 barrels a day from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, particularly from Nigeria and Iraq, the agency said. Fewer imports came from Mexico, which offset the increase in imports from Canada. It’s a significant development for the energy industry, which has been touted as “independent” and no longer dependent on foreign oil, including by Hillary Clinton in her campaign for president.
Instead, continued low oil prices are causing the country to import more oil as U.S. production decreases, according to the agency. Production has dropped from an average of 9.5 million barrels a day in the first six months of 2015 to 9 million this year. “The narrowing price differences between U.S. crudes and international benchmarks provided an incentive for increased imports by refiners in areas where imported crudes now had a delivered cost advantage relative to similar domestic crudes,” the report said. The administration added that it expects annual imports to increase in both 2016 and 2017.
