EIA: Distillate and jet fuel contribute to record U.S. petroleum product exports in 2024
In 2024, U.S. exports of total petroleum products increased to a record 6.6 MMbpd annual average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Annual U.S. petroleum product exports increased by 495,000 bpd as U.S. exports of distillate fuel oil—typically sold as diesel—and jet fuel increased compared with 2023, while exports of total motor gasoline decreased. Imports of major petroleum products, including gasoline, distillate fuel oil and jet fuel, decreased by 210,000 bpd in 2024 compared with 2023.
Distillate fuel oil accounts for the largest share of U.S. transportation fuel exports and is the second-largest petroleum export by volume, after propane. Distillate exports increased 182,000 bpd to about 1.30 MMbpd in 2024, still less than the annual record of 1.38 MMbpd in 2017.
The largest destination for U.S. distillate exports is Mexico, which accounted for 272,000 bpd (21%) in 2024. Other major destinations included Chile (110,000 bpd), the Netherlands (103,000 bpd), the UK (81,000 bpd) and Peru (74,000 bpd).
Brazil was the second-largest destination for U.S. distillate exports over the previous 10 years (2014–2023), but it only received 41,000 bpd of U.S. exports in 2024. This decrease indirectly reflects sanctions by European countries on Russia’s distillate imports. Brazil increased imports of discounted and displaced distillate from Russia last year, reducing its own imports from the United States. At the same time, major European hubs in the Netherlands and the UK imported significantly more distillate from the United States. The Netherlands imported 103,000 bpd of distillate from the United States in 2024, and UK distillate imports averaged 81,000 bpd. In 2021, the Netherlands imported just 12,000 bpd of U.S. distillate, and the UK imported only 23,000 bpd.
In 2024, exports of U.S. motor gasoline, including both finished motor gasoline and motor gasoline blending components, totaled 877,000 bpd, or 24,000 bpd less than in 2023. Mexico is the largest destination for U.S. gasoline exports, accounting for more than half of 2024 exports at 495,000 bpd. Other destinations for U.S. gasoline exports are generally concentrated in the Western Hemisphere, such as Guatemala, Colombia, Canada and Panama—the next-largest destinations by volume in 2024.
Jet fuel exports in 2024 increased relative to 2023, rising to a total of 209,000 bpd but remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Major destinations for jet fuel exports are elsewhere in the Americas, and as with the other fuels, Mexico has historically been the largest single destination, constituting 63,000 bpd (30%) of 2024 exports. U.S. annual exports of jet fuel to Mexico were their highest on record last year.
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