California imports of crude rose by 17pc in April to their highest since late 2019, with refiners adding more volumes from Guyana, Angola and Canada.
California refiners brought in 989,000 b/d of foreign crude in April, up from 844,000 b/d a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This is the most since 994,000 b/d was imported in October 2019 and the first time state intake has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Imports from Guyana surged to 99,000 b/d in April, up from 38,000 b/d a year earlier while Angolan crude rose to 64,000 b/d from nil during the same period last year.
Imports of Canadian crude are at their highest in at least 14 years after California pulled in 82,000 b/d from the US' northern neighbour in April. This is the most volume from Canada in EIA data going back to 2009 and represented a fourfold increase from the 19,000 b/d in March.
Showing declines were the UAE, Ecuador and Argentina, combining for 130,000 b/d in April this year, down by 34pc from 196,000 b/d a year earlier.
Iraq remains the largest source of foreign crude for California, supplying 193,000 b/d in April, or 20pc of the state's total imports. That is up from 177,000 b/d a year earlier.
Saudi Arabia at 151,000 b/d, Ecuador at 114,000 b/d and Brazil at 110,000 b/d remained significant contributors in April. The three countries consistently account for about 40-50pc of California's foreign crude diet.
Overall, the US imported 6.19mn b/d of foreign crude in April, lower by 2pc from a year earlier, partly on account of lower imports into Texas.
