OPEC crude exports to US fell to 1.6 million bpd in December

THE ORGANI ZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES’ (OPEC) crude cargoes leaving for the United States in December dropped to the lowest level in at least five years, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and market intelligence firm Kpler.

Oil cargoes departing from OPEC nations to the United States fell to 1.63 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, down from 1.80 million bpd in November and 1.78 million bpd in October, the data show.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and several others curbed supplies in the face of rising U.S. production and inventories, analysts said.

“Some of it was a decline in OPEC production,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

“But they’re facing competition from U.S. shale and Canadian production.”