For the first time in 35 years, no oil flowed from Saudi Arabia to the United States last week, according to EIA data, in a demonstration that the United States — at least for now — is not so dependent on oil. the Middle East as it used to be.
In October, according to the EIA, the United States imported 8.544 billion barrels. In June, that figure topped 36 million, though that figure was a bit anomalous, as Saudi Arabia threatened to flood the U.S. market with crude oil.
In much of the early 2000s, the United States imported more than 45 million barrels of Saudi crude monthly.
Source: EIA
Each week, that figure has dropped to zero.
Source: EIA
And U.S. crude oil imports aren’t just coming down from Saudi Arabia. As of October, the United States imported significantly less crude oil from the Persian Gulf region.
In the early 2000s, the United States imported more than 3 million barrels of crude oil per day from the Persian Gulf region. In October 2020, the United States imported less than half a million barrels a day, and that figure is not an anomaly, it is a clear trend. The United States is becoming less and less dependent on foreign oil and, in particular, less and less on Persian Gulf oil.
Source: EIA
The data comes just as Saudi Arabia announced a voluntary reduction of millions of barrels a day in oil production as the OPEC + group sat at the negotiating table to draw up a plan to react to the oil market and the lack of demand.
It also comes on the same day that Saudi Arabia announced a rise in the price of crude oil for the United States for February at $ 0Mor.20 a barrel.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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