US oil exports fall to lowest level in eight months as Iran deal reshapes global supply

Just two months ago, the US was shipping more oil than Saudi Arabia. Now American crude exports have hit their lowest point since last November, a whiplash reversal driven by a single diplomatic handshake in the Middle East. US crude oil exports averaged 3.66 million barrels per day in July, a steep decline from the 5.7 million bpd peak reached in May. The culprit: the US-Iran memorandum signed in June, which opened the floodgates for Middle Eastern crude flowing through the Strait of Hormuz and made American oil a lot less attractive to international buyers. The numbers tell a brutal story Asian buyers, historically the backbone of US crude demand abroad, pulled back hard. Shipments to the region dropped to roughly 40% of total exports in July, down from 52% just one month earlier. Japan’s appetite cratered most dramatically, with crude imports from the US falling 67% month-over-month. Europe wasn’t much kinder. The continent took just 1.7 million bpd in July, compared to 2.5 million bpd in May. That’s a 32% decline in two months. Meanwhile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve offered almost no cushion. SPR releases contributed a paltry 31,000 bpd in July, barely a rounding error in t...