SPR Gets Drained to Dump Crude Oil on Global Markets: US Exports of Crude Oil & Petroleum Products Spike

Crude oil exports hit a record of 5.7 MMb/d in May, exports of ultra-low sulfur diesel hit a record 1.54 MMb/d, etc. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. The global spike in prices of crude oil and of petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel, has cranked up the US production and export machinery, supplemented by the massive releases of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) that were either directly exported to the rest of the world, or refined and exported as value-added product. At the same time, imports of crude oil and petroleum products plunged further. Net exports (exports minus imports) soared to a new record of 5.9 million barrels per day in May, according to EIA data today. The US became the largest crude oil and lease condensate producer in the world in 2018. In 2025, it produced 37% more than Russia and 42% more than Saudia Arabia (our analysis is here). On an annual basis, the US became a net exporter – exporting more than importing – in 2020, and the gap has soared since then: Exports of crude oil spiked further in May to a record 5.73 million barrels per day (MMb/d), up by 58% from a year ago, helped by a massive burst of supply from the SPR. The releases from the SPR went overseas and helped push down the global price of crude oil. There is nothing sacred anymore about the SPR. The Biden and Trump administrations have used it to beat down the global price of crude oil (buy low, sell high). And that’s the only thing it’s still good for, since the US is awash in its own production. Exports of petroleum products, such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel, dipped in May from the huge spike in April and March, to 7.81 MMb/d, up by 18% year-over-year. The US has been the largest producer of diesel in the world for years, but consumes less than Europe because nearly all passenger vehicles with internal combustion engines in the US run on gasoline, whereas in Europe, the vast majority of passenger vehicles with internal-combustion engines run on diesel. Exports of ultra-low sulfur diesel spiked further to a record 1.54 MMb/d in May, up by 36% year-over-year. More broadly, of the exports of petroleum products: - Distillate fuel oil: 1.65 MMb/d, incl. 1.54 MMb/d of ultra-low sulfur diesel - Finished Motor gasoline: 806,000 b/d - Jet fuel: 336,000 b/d - Propane: 2.02 MMb/d - Butane: 893,000 b/d - Ethane: 717,000 b/d And the SPR has been getting drained to dump US crude oil and petroleum products on the global markets and help push down global prices. In the week of July 24, the SPR was down by 107.8 million barrels since the Iran war started, to end the week at 307.7 million barrels. Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? You can donate. I appreciate it immensely. Click on the mug to find out how: Not sure if this is logical but the US has a decent amount, not abundant of proven reserves, and a huge amount of unproven reserves. The challenge seems to be having a significantly high price to encourage the investment of those reserves and ideally more refineries to process sweet crude. However that seems problematic without growing oil demand. Obviously huge opportunities for export but this primarily benefits oil companies rather than consumers. Our SPR is typically filled with at least half sour crude that is imported and used by South Coast refineries so not clear how they address filling it. Canada I guess can supply a lot of the sour. The profits from draining our reserves will be shared equally by the American public….right….right? (I do think a SPR is a dated model when production outstrips consumption. Overall inventories aren’t huge globally, I laugh when people are like 20MMBBL drain…..so you mean a day?….the supply chain is pretty inventory efficient when it comes down to it) Strange moves are multiplying – selling down the SPR, Venezuelan oil money going missing, trying to take 20% of anything going through Hormuz, suddenly new round of tariffs destined to fail in a while. These are very short term desperate moves not helping but shifting the problem a few months down the road. It almost looks like they are afraid of straight numbers and going to the bond market. Warsh Considers Reducing Frequency of Fed Policy Meetings… Maybe he should reduce them to zero and cut out the entire media circus? No more chance for the internet to say, “Warsh was dovish.” If the FOMC isn’t going to do anything about inflation, then why bother wasting time in some sleepy, yawning meeting just to endlessly agree that they are going to do nothing. Just wondering, would 5.7M barrels of US not leaving the country lower gas prices here in the USA? The US is one of a small percent where the nation doesn’t own and benefit from resources. In fact the current Iran war dates back to that very issue. It doesn’t mean that oil companies providing oil services doesn’t make sense however. In short, you don’t get to benefit for the collective natural wealth of your country. From today’s WSJ: “America’s largest oil companies reported a blockbuster quarter after the Iran war caused a historic dislocation in global markets that sent energy prices soaring.” Exxon more than doubled profits. Chevron had its highest quarterly earnings ever. “Margins for making products like jet fuel, diesel and gasoline climbed to record highs. Oil prices eased toward the end of the quarter on hopes for a lasting peace deal between the U.S. and Iran that would fully reopen the Strait, but prices for products kept climbing—allowing refineries to profit from the difference between the cost of crude and the revenue generated from refined petroleum products.” Yes, that’s what I’ve been saying since early March. The entire price increases went to profits. There was never ever any reason in the US other than profiteering for gasoline prices to jump. That’s the entire economy. Our public corporations are making record profits that soar, quarter after quarter, and the disproportionate benefits of those go to a relatively small group. People are going to lose their minds when/if we drain out the reserves and discover what demand destruction means. (You can’t afford it so don’t have demand anymore) Going used EV with those sweet subsidies was worth every penny rather than deal with the Chinese water torture of refilling at the pump. I fueled up today with a large gas can for my motorbike’s tank (which has no fuel gauge, so I like to keep it topped-up in the garage) and my hybrid SUV in St. Paul, MN. 91 octane that’s non-oxygenated, meaning just gasoline with no added ethanol was $4.46. Of that, 29 cents is Minnesota gasoline tax. And there’s 18.4 cents for the U.S. gas tax too. Less taxes, that is $3.985 per gallon for the best unleaded gasoline that I can buy in the Twin Cities that’s not been mixed with corn-based moonshine. The Cushing’s is at a record low with only 18.6 million barrels. Pretty soon it will be at an inoperable level, and we’ll have to stop exporting anymore crude until it’s replenished. Yep, and an Executive Action by a sitting President could have stopped or slowed down exports, reducing the price the minions pay. The Art of the Deal just backfired on U.S. Citizens. Saudi Arabia and foreign countries Strategic Oil Reserves would take up the geographic slack. Oh Well?