This Week in Petroleum: Best of 2022

Today's This Week in Petroleum articles were originally published throughout 2022. New feature articles of This Week in Petroleum will return on January 5, 2023. The retail prices and inventory charts and tables accompanying the feature article have been updated to reflect data from the latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending December 16, 2022.

Published June 15, 2022: Petroleum product movement from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast remains robust while exports reach record highs

U.S. exports of crude oil and petroleum products reached a record of 9.8 million barrels per day (b/d) during the week of May 27 (based on a four-week rolling average). High exports of hydrocarbon gas liquids, such as ethane and propane, are contributing to record crude oil and petroleum product exports. Weekly data indicate that U.S. exports of propane are near record highs, and U.S. exports of other oils (which includes ethane) reached a record of 2.4 million b/d during the week of June 3. Exports of crude oil, finished motor gasoline, and distillate have all increased since the beginning of 2022, partly due to increased demand from Europe, although they all remain below their record highs (Figure 1). In addition to high exports, movements from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the U.S. East Coast via pipeline, tanker, and barge are near historic annual high levels for both motor gasoline and distillate. Despite this supply, low product inventories in the Northeast are likely to continue, driven by a confluence of factors, including transportation constraints, increasing demand, and low regional refinery production.

Published June 2, 2022: International oil and natural gas companies reported increased cash flow and higher proved reserves in 2021

Annual financial reports by 119 publicly traded exploration and production companies reported that their aggregate proved reserves of crude oil and natural gas increased by 19.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in 2021. Collective exploration and development (E&D) expenditures by these companies increased only 1% in 2021 from 2020, remaining 28% below their five-year (2015–19) average. Many publicly traded oil and natural gas companies, generating more cash from operations as a result of higher prices in 2021, directed more of their financial resources toward debt reduction, dividend increases, and merger and acquisition opportunities than toward capital expenditures for production growth.

Published March 30, 2022: Small reduction in net U.S. petroleum product exports during 2021 driven by distillate and gasoline

U.S. imports of petroleum products increased more than exports of petroleum products in 2021, resulting in a slight reduction in the net exports (exports minus imports) of U.S. petroleum product compared with 2020 (Figure 1). U.S. petroleum product exports averaged 5.7 million barrels per day (b/d) during 2021, an increase of 360,000 b/d compared with 2020. Imports of petroleum products into the United States also increased in 2021 to 2.4 million b/d, which is 371,000 b/d more than in 2020. The increase in both exports and imports represents an expanding U.S. petroleum trade. This expansion is associated with increased economic activity. Demand for petroleum in both the United States and globally after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had decreased substantially in the first half of 2020. Net exports of U.S. petroleum products averaged 3.3 million b/d in 2021, which is 10,000 b/d less than in 2020. The petroleum products most exported from the United States by volume during 2021 were propane, distillate fuel oil, and motor gasoline, which collectively accounted for an average of 59% of all petroleum product exports. At the same time, the United States imported large volumes of gasoline and distillate fuel oil into some regions.

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