U.S. Crude Oil Exports Hit Record 5.2 Million Barrels Per Day Amid Iran War Disruptions

S. 2 million barrels per day in April, a record high driven by global demand shifts during the Iran war. 9 million barrels per day in February, according to data from Kpler.

U.S. crude oil exports in April, while Houston accounted for most of the rest, Kpler data shows. March was the busiest month in the history of the Port of Corpus Christi, and the first quarter was the busiest quarter ever for the port, said CEO Kent Britton.

2 million barrels per day last year, Britton said. Ship traffic in the Port of Corpus Christi rose to more than 240 vessels in March, compared to the 200 vessels the port normally sees in a month, according to Britton. "It's a constant parade of tankers coming in and out," he said.

Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the two big Persian Gulf ports largely cut off from the world. Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia was one of the two largest oil export terminals in the world before the Iran war, and Basra in Iraq was the other. Corpus Christi was the third-largest oil export terminal in the world before the Iran war.

The Perseus Star crude oil tanker departed the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Saturday, February. S. ports on any given day, double the volume seen last year, according to Kpler data.

Very large crude carriers can typically carry up to 2 million barrels. Many of those tankers are coming from Asian countries that imported their oil from the Middle East before the war, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler. "Asian markets are buying whatever they can get their hands on, so they're taking a lot of light sweet crude," Smith said.

The volume of refined product exports from Corpus Christi to the Middle East was higher in the first quarter than all of last year, Britton said. Around 3 million barrels per day of refined products pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Melius. Global jet fuel stocks are approximately 7 million barrels below average.

Jet fuel inventories in Europe and the ARA hub are at multi-year lows, and the Middle East has about 18 days of jet fuel cover. S. oil exports are capped somewhere just above 5 million barrels per day due to dock capacity, Smith said.

6 million barrels per day due to pipeline constraints, but could probably handle another 500,000 barrels per day if pipelines were expanded, Britton said.