The U.S. Gulf Coast saw its crude oil imports in March at their lowest level since 1986, as rising domestic production and falling imports from OPEC including Venezuela have started to fundamentally change how the Gulf Coast is supplied with crude, the EIA said in an analysis this week. In March 2019, the Gulf Coast’s crude oil imports averaged 1.8 million bpd, the EIA data showed. This was the lowest level of Gulf Coast imports since March 1986 and a drastic reduction from the peak of 6.6 million bpd of crude imports in March 2007. Recent events and longer-term trends have been changing the crude oil supply of the Gulf Coast, leading to lower imports. These factors include this year’s U.S. sanctions on imports from Venezuela and higher than usual refinery maintenance in the early months of 2019. The Gulf Coast imports from OPEC have also been lower in […]