According to preliminary data in OPEC’s June Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), the US imported nearly 6.0 million bpd of crude in May, increasing by 0.5 million bpd from April. However, it was 1.2 million bpd lower than the year-ago level. Meanwhile, crude exports stood at 3.2 million bpd last month, the lowest level since November 2019 and compared to a peak of 3.7 million bpd in February. However, exports were 0.3 million bpd higher than May 2019.
This indicates that US net crude imports averaged 2.8 million bpd in May, an increase of 0.58 million bpd (26%) month-on-month. Compared to May 2019, US net crude imports declined by nearly 1.5 million bpd or about 35%.
Canada was still the top destination for US crude exports, receiving about 0.38 million bpd in May. However, the figure is the lowest since June 2019 and 14% lower compared to a month earlier. US crude exports to Korea were at a 14-month low of 0.3 million bpd last month. The US registered the first crude exports to China in 2020, at 0.11 million bpd, but this was offset by a 0.15 million bpd decrease in exports to Singapore.
The data also showed that US product exports averaged 4.1 million bpd last month, the lowest in over five years. This represents a decline of 1.3 million bpd month-on-month and 1.1 million bpd year-on-year. Reduced shipments to Mexico and Japan led the drop in US product exports in May. Meanwhile, product imports declined by 0.8 million bpd, or around 31% year-on-year to 1.82 million bpd in May. Compared to the previous month, product imports were about 3% lower.
This implies that US net product exports averaged 2.3 million bpd in May, falling by 1.31 million bpd, or 36%, from April. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 0.3 million bpd, or 12%. Combined, net crude and product imports averaged 0.5 million bpd in May, marking the return of the US as a net importer for the first time since August last year.
