BREAKING: US imports of crude oil from Venezuela surged +183,000 barrels per day last week, to 782,000 barrels per day, the largest weekly total since August 2017.
Over the last 6 months, imports from Venezuela have surged +550,000 barrels per day, or +237%.
As a result, US imports of crude oil from Venezuela have averaged +626,000 barrels per day over the last 3 months, the largest 3-month average in 9 years.
To put this into perspective, imports were as high as 1.5 million barrels per day in 1997 and consistently averaged above 1 million barrels per day between 1995 and 2007.
The US is rapidly ramping up its consumption of Venezuelan oil.