U.S. Crude-Oil Imports From Venezuela at Highest Levels Since 2018, EIA Data Show — OPIS

U.S. crude-oil imports from Venezuela rose to the highest levels since 2018 last week, while imports from Saudi Arabia fell below 200,000 b/d for the second week in a row, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.

The data show the impact of recent global events, as Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz pressures Saudi oil shipments and the U.S. arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has resulted in the easing of sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports.

U.S. imports from Venezuela averaged 713,000 b/d during the week ending May 15, according to EIA data. It was a 125,000 b/d increase from the previous week and the highest weekly average since October 2018.

Imports from Venezuela had averaged 499,250 b/d in the previous four weeks.

The country has been the second-largest supplier of crude to the U.S. since the week ending April 24, when its exports to the U.S. surpassed those of Saudi Arabia.

Canada remains, by far, the largest supplier of crude to the U.S., with exports to this country averaging 3.792 million b/d in the latest week and 3.775 million b/d over the past four weeks, EIA data show.

U.S. imports of crude from Saudi Arabia do occasionally see large week-over-week variations.

But imports of Saudi crude averaged 155,000 b/d in the latest week and 154,000 b/d the week before. It was the first time since mid-November that imports from the kingdom have averaged below 200,000 b/d for two weeks.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the end of February has impacted Saudi oil exports through the crucial waterway. It can take about seven weeks for tankers to transit from the Persian Gulf to the U.S.

U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia over the past four weeks have averaged about 204,000 b/d. That is compared to the 542,000 b/d average in the four weeks before the attacks on Iran. It, however, is not far off the 218,000 b/d averaged during the same four weeks last year while well below the 489,000 b/d average during the same four weeks in 2024.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

-- Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Donna Harris, dharris@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2026 16:20 ET (20:20 GMT)