U.S. crude oil trade, already narrowing on the back of surging domestic production, tightened further in the second quarter of 2026. Net crude imports fell from a 2025 average of 2.1 million barrels per day (MB/d) to just 732 thousand barrels per day (KB/d), a decline that tracks the broader shift toward net-exporter status the U.S. reached for the first time since World War II this spring. The gain, roughly 1.4 MB/d in additional crude exports, went overwhelmingly to four destinations: the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, and Germany, which together absorbed 1.12 MB/d of the increase.
The concentration in the Netherlands is largely a matter of refining geography. The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub houses the bulk of Europe’s refining capacity, and Rotterdam alone depends on the Persian Gulf for roughly 10% of its crude throughput. With Gulf-origin supply constrained, ARA refiners turned to U.S. barrels. Japan is the more striking case: historically reliant on the Middle East for over 90% of its crude, Japan turned to U.S. barrels as an emergency substitute, with imports running several times their year-earlier pace by mid-2026.
Product exports followed a similar but smaller-scale pattern. China’s imports of U.S. petroleum products rose from a 630 KB/d 2025 average to 875 KB/d, while Japan and India together added 290 KB/d, reaching 1.15 MB/d. Morocco, Kenya, and Egypt posted more modest gains in Africa.
For more information on these charts, please contact Max Pyziur (maxp@eprinc.org).
Cite: EPRINC, “U.S. Crude Oil and Product Export Response to Hormuz Closure: The Rotterdam and Tokyo Surge,” Chart of the Week 2026-30, September 9, 2026.