EIA: U.S. Imports of Venezuelan Crude Hit 7-Year High


   
Maria Eugenia Garcia
DTN Energy Editor

   HOUSTON, TX (DTN) --U.S. crude oil imports from Venezuela hit a seven-year 
high for the week ended March 20, while Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Colombia 
recorded declining volumes during the same period, the Energy Information 
Administration reported on Wednesday (3/25).

   Imports of Venezuelan crude rose by 125,000 bpd to 549,000 bpd in the 
profiled week, hitting their highest since February 2019. Venezuela's oil 
shipments to the U.S. have climbed since the White House took charge of its 
petroleum sector after engineering the capture of the country's former leader 
Nicolas Maduro in January.

   Last week's import volume from Venezuela was higher than the 195,000 bpd 
seen in the same week of last year.

   U.S refiners also imported 3.9 million bpd of Canadian crude last week, sone 
123,000 bpd higher than the prior week and little changed from the same week of 
2025.

   In contrast, heavy sour crude imports from Mexico plummeted by 413,000 bpd 
to 227,000 bpd during the week ended March 20, below the 393,000 bpd reported 
year-over-year, EIA data showed.

   Imports of heavy grades from Colombia plunged almost three times 
week-over-week by declining 131,000 bpd to 88,000 bpd. It was more than two 
times below the volume reported for the same week of last year, when it was at 
190,000 bpd.  

   Despite the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, weekly 
imports from Iraq more than doubled by rising to 270, 000 bpd. That was also 
above the 203,000 bpd noted in the same period of last year.

   Meanwhile, imports from Saudi Arabia dropped by 188,000 bpd to 605,000 bpd 
during the week ended March 20. Still, that was four times more than the 
144,000 bpd recorded in the same week of 2025.

   Weekly imports from Libya and Ecuador were zero, below the 86,000 bpd and 
127,000 bpd reported, respectively, a year ago.




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