Iraq boosted its oil exports to the United States by 30.5% in the first five months of 2023, according to data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) calculated by the Shafaq News agency.
Compared to the same period in 2021, the total Iraqi exports to the U.S. between January and May 2023 surged by 61%.
Per the EIA data of U.S. imports of Iraqi oil, February saw the biggest volume of Iraqi oil entering the United States so far this year, 12.168 million barrels. March 2023 was the month with the lowest U.S. imports between January and May, with U.S. oil imports from Iraq totaling 9.409 million barrels.
Generally, the share of U.S. petroleum imports from OPEC and Persian Gulf countries has declined over the past decades, while the share of imports from Canada has increased, the EIA says.
U.S. petroleum imports peaked in 2005 as increased domestic petroleum production and higher petroleum exports have helped to reduce annual total petroleum net imports.
Last year, Iraq was in the top five sources of U.S. total petroleum – including crude oil – imports by percentage share of total petroleum imports. Imports from Iraq accounted for 4% of all, placing Iraq fourth in the ranking after Canada with 52%, Mexico with 10%, and Saudi Arabia with 7%, according to the EIA data. Iraq was also fourth in terms of U.S. crude oil imports by percentage share of U.S. total crude oil imports in 2022. The U.S. imported 4% of its crude from Iraq last year, while it purchased 60% of the imported crude from Canada, 10% from Mexico, and 7% from Saudi Arabia.
Iraq, for its part, has seen overall exports drop since the halt of around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil flows, following the March 2023 dispute with Turkey over exports of crude from the northern Iraqi oilfields and the semi-autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Read More:Iraq’s Oil Exports To The U.S. Jump By 30.5%
2023-08-10 12:44:40