US Dec Venezuela Crude Imports Down 55% Versus Nov - EIA
sg.biz.yahoo.com Friday February 14, 3:51 AM (MORE) Dow Jones Newswires 02-13-03 1341ET By David Bird Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.S. crude oil imports from Venezuela dropped by 55% in December from November to just 652,000 barrels a day, the lowest level since May 1991, as an oil workers strike slashed the flow from the U.S. fourth-biggest foreign supplier, early data show.
But preliminary figures from the Energy Information Administration show imports from Saudi Arabia and Mexico rose sharply to cover for some of the lost Venezuelan supplies.
Preliminary data from oil-importing companies show crude imports from Saudi Arabia rose by 23% from November to 1.815 million b/d, the most for any month since August 2001.
Crude imports from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and exporter, were up 33.75% from a year earlier.
The Saudis were the top supplier in December and - for the fifth straight year - were the biggest supplier for all of 2002, the data show, with U.S. crude imports for the month and the year down from a year earlier.
December crude imports were 8.619 million b/d, the company data show, down 2.5% from a year earlier. Full year 2002 figures were down 3% at 9.045 million b/d, the latest preliminary figures show. EIA has published other preliminary data showing December and 2002 slightly higher, at 8.844 million b/d and 9.066 million b/d, respectively.
Mexico, which was the second-biggest source of U.S. foreign crude supplies in both December and all of 2002, posted records for both periods.
U.S. December crude imports from Mexico jumped 13.3% from November, to 1.734 million b/d and were up 11.3% from December 2001. For the full year, crude imports from Mexico averaged a record 1.483 million b/d, up 6.4%.
Mexico supplied 19.6% of U.S. crude imports in December, up from 16% in November, and the highest monthly share since November 1985.
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02-13-03 1427ET
US Dec Venezuela Crude Imports Down 55% Versus Nov - EIA -3
Canada was the third-biggest source of foreign crude in December and for all of 2002. December crude imports averaged 1.490 million b/d, little changed from 1.485 million b/d in November and up from 1.408 million b/d a year earlier.
Full-year crude imports from Canada were up 5.8% at 1.434 million b/d.
Despite the severe cut in volume, Venezuela held its usual spot as the fourth-largest crude oil supplier in December.
Caracas held a share of just 7.4% of U.S. crude imports in December, its lowest level since July 1989 and less than half the 15% share in November.
Full-year crude imports from Venezuela averaged 1.195 million b/d, down 7.4% from the 2001 level and was the lowest since 1999.
Combined December crude oil and petroleum products imports from Venezuela plunged 51% from November, to 778,000 b/d, and were the lowest since June 1989.
Crude imports from Nigeria in December averaged 625,000 b/d, up from 556,000 b/d in November and 579,000 b/d a year earlier.
But full-year crude imports from the fifth-largest supplier plunged to 566,000 b/d from 842,000 b/d, the lowest annual level since 1987, EIA data show.
Crude oil imports from Iraq dipped to 366,000 b/d in December from 380,000 b/d in November and were down a huge 67.5% from 1.126 million b/d in December 2001 as tensions heightened over a possible U.S. war with Baghdad.
Full-year 2002 crude oil imports from Iraq dropped 44.3% to 443,000 b/d from 795,000 b/d, the lowest level since 1998.
Under an exemption to United Nations sanctions, Iraq is allowed to sell crude oil under a U.N.-monitored program which oversees the use of the oil-sale revenues. U.S. oil companies buy the Iraqi crude from foreign companies who hold contracts with Baghdad.
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02-13-03 1451ET