EIA: US Preliminary March Crude Imports -9.3% Vs Year Ago

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.S. crude oil imports fell 9.3%, or 963,000 barrels a day, to 9.385 million barrels a day in March, preliminary data from the Energy Information Administration show Tuesday.

March crude oil imports were the lowest in any month since February 2007 and also posted the biggest year-to-year monthly decline in any month since.


The weak March figure was lower than the year-ago level, which was the highest ever for March at 10.348 million barrels a day and at the time was also a six- month high.

Combined with previously published EIA data, preliminary first-quarter U.S. crude imports averaged 9.664 million barrels a day, a 2% – or 199,333 barrels a day – decline on the year. That would be the weakest first-quarter level since 2004, the data show.

Canada was the top supplier for the 25th straight month, but imports fell to the lowest level since October 2006, the data show. Crude imports from Canada averaged 1.727 million barrels a day, accounting for an 18.4% share of total crude imports, down from 20% a month earlier. Year-to-date crude imports from Canada are 2.1% above a year ago.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, was the No. 2 crude supplier to the U.S., topping Mexico for the eighth straight month. Imports from Saudi Arabia were 4.9% below February, but 26.2% above a year ago.

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