In recent years, higher domestic production of light, tight crude oil has regions.
One of the key characteristics of crude oil is its density, measured by . Less-dense liquids have higher API gravities. Crude oils with API gravities of 35 or above are considered light; 27 to 34 are medium; less than 27 are heavy.
From the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015, medium-grade crude oil imports to Gulf Coast refineries decreased 45%, from 1.5 million barrels per day (b/d) to 0.8 million b/d. On the other hand, over that same period there was a 0.4 million b/d (22%) increase in imports to Gulf Coast refineries of heavy crude oil. Improved refining margins from processing additional volumes of heavy crude have resulted in a 3% increase in gross (ADU) throughput in the Gulf Coast region over this period, from 8.0 million b/d to 8.2 million b/d.
Almost all medium-grade crude oil imports are from Middle Eastern countries. Gulf Coast imports of medium crude oil from Saudi Arabia decreased by 52% from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015, from 0.9 million b/d to 0.4 million b/d. Similarly, Gulf Coast imports of medium crude oil from Kuwait decreased by 46% over this period, from 0.4 million b/d to 0.2 million b/d.
Principal contributor: Michael Ford
