Spain’s imports of US crude oil surged to a record in May

Spain imported a record volume of crude oil from the US in May, in the latest sign of how supplies of the flagship WTI Midland grade have gained a foothold in the European market.

The nation boosted crude imports from the US by 82% year-on-year to 1.18 million tons in May, data from national stockpiles agency CORES showed. That’s the highest for any month since shipments resumed in early 2016 after Washington lifted a ban on crude exports.  

The US was the biggest source of imported crude for Spain in May, leap-frogging Brazil compared with April, the CORES data compiled by Bloomberg show. The next largest suppliers of imports for May were Brazil, Venezuela and Nigeria.

European refiners have boosted imports of American barrels to replace Russia’s Urals crude since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Processors adjusted their feedstock to include the American grade, which is lighter than Russian barrels.

Observed crude oil shipments into Europe from the US Gulf are set to slip to about 1.6 million barrels a day in June as lower prices in Europe prompted more cargoes to be shipped to Asia, according to separate tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and fixture reports.