Saudi Arabia Crude Flows to U.S. Swell as Venezuela Output Falls - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia Crude Flows to U.S. Swell as Venezuela Output Falls - Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia is sending the most crude oil to the U.S. in 15 months.

The world’s largest oil exporter loaded 1 million barrels a day onto tankers bound for the U.S. in July, according to preliminary vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s a 36 percent jump from June and the single biggest monthly flow to the U.S. since April 2017.

The surge in flows might help officials in Riyadh to argue that they’re responding after U.S. President Donald Trump blamed OPEC for high oil prices and called on Saudi Arabia to add supply. It also helps replace barrels that have been lost by the collapse in Venezuela, normally a major source of U.S. crude imports, according to Olivier Jakob, managing director of consultants Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.