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.
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