For the first time in six years, Europe was the top market for US crude oil as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to impact global markets.
Europe overtook Asia, the previous top market, and received 213.1m barrels of crude while Asia received 191.1m barrels of American crude in the first five months of 2022, US Census Bureau data showed according to Bloomberg.
Last year, Asia took 192m barrels of US crude with Europe receiving 143.1m. The last time Europe received more barrels of American crude was in 2016, when it took 16.8m barrels and Asia took significantly less at 4.8m.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused a shift in the global energy market. As Western nations like the US and UK imposed sanctions on Russian oil in response to the war, the US became a major source of crude oil for European countries.
With Western states shunning its oil, Russia offered heavily discounted supplies to countries like India and China, which have not imposed any bans. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer after the US and Saudi Arabia and holds significant influence over global energy markets.
US President Joe Biden will be in Saudi Arabia today to urge OPEC’s biggest oil producer to increase production as oil prices have surged around the world following the war.