WASHINGTON: US imports of oil and petroleum products from OPEC have fallen to a 28-year low, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. The US is pumping more of its own oil, and relying less on OPEC imports than any time since April 1987.
In the past six years, US production has increased dramatically, catching global markets off-guard and contributing to the crash in oil prices. Last year, the U.S. surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world’s biggest oil producer.
America’s new oil, plus rising imports from Canada, has helped cut OPEC imports by more than half.
Here’s another way to look at the data. The chart below shows a close-up of the past 10 years. Each line represents a calendar year of US imports from OPEC. 2014 stands alone in blue—with by far the lowest volume of imports in the decade shown.
