US crude imports hit 4-year low on weak refinery demand

US waterborne crude imports hit lowest level since March 2021 – Kpler

Canadian crude imports fall to lowest since April amid 67% drop in East Coast shipments

Refinery upkeep, together with at largest East Coast plant, hits demand

Uncertainty over impending tariffs additionally curbed shipments

HOUSTON, March 5 (Reuters) – U.S. waterborne crude oil imports hit a four-year low in February, pushed by a fall in Canadian barrels shipped to the East Coast, based on ship monitoring knowledge, as refinery upkeep, together with an extended turnaround on the largest plant within the area, quashed demand.

The drop in demand coincides with the implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on crude from Canada, that are threatening to upend commerce flows between the U.S. and its northern neighbor and essential crude provider.

Complete U.S. waterborne crude oil imports slipped by 319,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February to 2.32 million bpd, based on Kpler, marking their lowest month-to-month degree since March 2021.

Of that, Canadian volumes fell by a 3rd to 265,000 bpd, their lowest since April 2024, based on Kpler, as a result of a 67% decline in East Coast-bound volumes.

East Coast refinery utilization slumped to 54.8% final week from 82.5%, based on the U.S. Vitality Data Administration, its lowest since July 2020 amid upkeep on the largest refinery within the area, based on analysts at analysis firm IIR Vitality.

Phillips 66 began a serious 50-day turnaround final month at its 258,500 bpd Bayway Refinery in New Jersey.

This tanked general February crude imports to the East Coast, stated Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler.

Shipments to the East Coast tumbled by 189,000 bpd to a four-year low of 354,000 bpd.

On the identical time, import demand might be anticipated to proceed slipping, as some refiners have introduced extra items again on-line, able to processing extra home gentle, candy crudes, stated Hillary Stevenson, director at IIR Vitality.

Chevron accomplished a retrofit at its 125,000 bpd Pasadena refinery in Texas in December, rising the refinery’s consumption of crude from the Permian basin, the most important U.S. oilfield.

Exxon Mobil and Phillips 66 have additionally introduced extra refinery capability on-line within the final two years that runs extra home crudes, weighing on import demand, based on Stevenson.

The specter of Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada additionally affected imports in February, merchants stated, as market individuals awaited affirmation of these levies earlier than in search of barrels from different sources.

At the same time as general imports declined in February, shipments of Brazilian crude to the U.S. rose final month by round 58% to 292,000 bpd, probably a hedge in opposition to tariffs, stated Rohit Rathod, senior oil market analyst at Vortexa.

He expects demand for barrels from the Center East in addition to Colombia can even develop.

“Because the tariffs play out over the approaching weeks, we are going to doubtless begin to see the affect,” stated Kpler’s Smith.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Modifying by Liz Hampton and Marguerita Choy)