U.S. crude oil exports surge to record as tankers flock to Gulf Coast during Iran war

u.s. crude oil exports hit a record in april at 5.2 million barrels per day — up more than 30% from 3.9 million bpd in february before the iran war, per kpler data. the port of corpus christi, already the third-largest oil export terminal in the world before the war, has never been busier. march was its busiest month ever, and the first quarter its busiest quarter, said ceo kent britton. oil exports from the port have risen to about 2.5 million bpd since the war started, up from 2.2 million bpd last year. ship traffic hit over 240 vessels in march, compared to the normal 200. about half of u.s. crude exports in april went through corpus christi, with houston handling most of the rest. some 50 to 60 very large crude carriers are heading to u.s. ports daily — double last year's volume. many come from asian countries that used to import from the middle east, said kpler's matt smith. they're buying whatever light sweet crude they can get because the strait of hormuz is effectively closed. but this shift may be temporary. u.s. light sweet crude is a poor substitute for the sour middle east barrels many refineries are built for. export capacity is also limited — corpus christi maxes out around 2.6 million bpd due to pipeline constraints, though it could handle another 500,000 bpd with expansion. "it's a hole that can't be plugged," smith said. "the answer has to be ensuring secure supply from the middle east."