While U.S. crude exports are increasingly important for the health of the oil and gas complex, they have come under pressure amid the COVID-19 coronavirus. In this article, we’ll describe why crude exports matter, and why they’re probably going to drift upwards in subsequent months.

Exports and Production

The story of U.S. crude exports is rather simple: as production increased, supply outstripped the ability of U.S. refiners to absorb this capacity. U.S. refineries are, on average, more complex than their international brethren and are optimized to process heavier grades of crude. This creates a mismatch between domestic supply and refinery demand. As you can see below, U.S. crude production is heavily weighted towards light and medium crude grades.