The U.S. government granted 103 licenses to ship crude oil abroad in its latest fiscal year, up from 66 approved in fiscal 2012 according to the Financial Times.
Most of the licenses — 54 of the 66 — were for exports to Canada, which allows purchases of U.S. crude to be refined in Canada.
The approvals were the highest since at least 2006, the Financial Times said.
“Exports to Canada totalled 99,000 b/d in September, the latest official data show. Physical traders estimate U.S. crude exports to Canada are now approaching 200,000 b/d, the highest in more than a decade,” the report said.
There have been restrictions on most U.S. crude oil exports since the embargo of crude by Middle East producers in 1975 and the economic shock that caused to the U.S. economy. All U.S. exporters must obtain a license, even for shipments to Canada.
More than 3.3m barrels of U.S. crude have been exported to Canada from the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas already this year, the report said, a 10-fold jump from volumes in 2012.
Valero received a license to export up to 60,000 barrels per day of Eagle Ford crude from Texas to its refinery in Quebec, the report said.
Other export licenses were approved for two shipments each to China, Italy, Mexico and South Korea, three to Panama, and one to Singapore, the Financial Times said.
“In January the U.S. exported 9,000 b/d of crude to China,” the paper said, “which the Energy Information Administration called a “rare event” that probably came from oil imported to the US and then exported again.”
