United States base oil exports jumped by 60% in February, while base oil imports fell 34%, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
U.S. suppliers shipped off 3.7 million barrels of base oil during the month – including deliveries traveling overland to Mexico and Canada – compared to 2.3 million barrels in the same month last year.
Exports to Mexico surged from 947,000 barrels to 1.6 million barrels, while shipments to Brazil jumped 56% to 403,000 barrels, and those to Colombia rose 28% to 104,000 barrels. Exports to Canada increased 25% to 288,000 barrels.
Shipments to Belgium were little changed, rising 2% to 146,000 barrels, but those to the United Arab Emirates jumped 45% to 132,000 barrels. Singapore, typically a small market for U.S. base oil exports, was the destination for 142,000 barrels in February – the first time it topped 100,000 barrels since 179,000 barrels in October 2020. The country received just 1,000 barrels of U.S. base oils in February of 2023.
U.S. base oil imports tumbled to 952,000 barrels in February, compared to 1.4 million barrels 12 months earlier. The source nations experiencing the largest decreases were Qatar, whose shipments fell 67% to 114,000 barrels, and from Indonesia, whose shipments decreased 52% to 74,000 barrels.
The largest sources were South Korea, whose shipments decreased 7% to 327,000 barrels, and Canada, which saw its shipments decline 12% to 272,000 barrels. Shipments from Bahrain rose 9% to 152,000 barrels.