Steady rise
As U.S. oil exports edge toward record highs, distillate exports also continue to increase.
As U.S. oil exports edge toward record highs, distillate exports also continue to increase, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Oil exports were banned for nearly 40 years until President Barack Obama lifted the restriction in late 2015. Distillates — including diesel and fuel oils — had no such limit and have seen a steady increase over the past dozen years.
The country’s distillate exports set a record high of 1.7 million barrels a day in July, the report stated. Exports dipped to 1.4 million barrels a day in August as Hurricane Harvey temporarily idled most of the Gulf Coast refineries. September numbers are not yet available, but most of the affected refineries were returned to service within several days.
Despite August’s decline, exports accounted for 28 percent of the country’s total distillate production through the first eight months of the year, up from 24 percent of total distillate production last year. Total production climbed to an average of nearly 5 million barrels a day so far this year.
Distillate production and exports both have increased steadily since 2005, when total production was less than 4 million barrels a day and exports accounted for 3 percent of total production.
Oil price climb
Oil prices have held steady in recent days after surging to two-year highs Monday.
Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained $4.17, or 8 percent, over the previous two weeks before adding another $1.71, or 3 percent, Monday to $57.35 a barrel after Saudi Arabian authorities arrested at least 17 princes, government ministers and business leaders and missiles were fired from Yemen into Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
The price gave back a bit of the gain Tuesday and Wednesday before adding 36 cents Thursday to $57.17 a barrel.
Oil and natural gas executives over the past two weeks affirmed continued efforts to cut costs and stay profitable with oil prices that have held between $45 and $55 a barrel for most of the year.
Industry leaders are anticipating the Organization Petroleum Exporting Countries’ scheduled Nov. 30 meeting. The group is expected to extend the production cuts that have strengthened oil prices over the past year, but it is still unclear whether the events in Saudi Arabia will have any affect on those efforts.