Saudi oil shipments to America plunge to 35-year low
This spring Saudi Arabia sent an armada of tankers to America to drown US oil makers with cheap crude. Now, the kingdom has reversed course, steering the fewest barrels here since the Reagan era.
The United States imported just 264,000 barrels per day of Saudi crude during August, according to estimates from ClipperData, a commodity research firm. That's down nearly 50% from 2019's average.
If confirmed by official government statistics, that would mark the lowest amount of Saudi oil exports to the United States since 1985.
"Saudi crude flows bound for the US have basically dried up," Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, told CNN Business in an email.
The course-reversal by Saudi Arabia -- from intentionally flooding the United States with excess crude to holding back barrels -- underscores the kingdom's dramatic efforts to revive depressed energy markets during the pandemic.