US crude oil exports rose to record 591,000 bpd in April: US Census Bureau

[NEW YORK] US crude oil exports rose to a record 591,000 barrels per day in April compared with 508,000 bpd in March, foreign trade data from the US Census Bureau showed on Friday.

Exports to Canada were 324,000 bpd, while exports to Curacao reached 90,000 bpd. Exports to Bahamas were 36,000 bpd. In total, exports were the highest on record since at least 1920, according to US government data.

The record level of exports come some half a year after a decades-long ban on US exports was lifted. Since then, a number of merchants traders, producers and even refiners have moved crude to Latin America, Europe and Asia, among other locations.

US Census' foreign trade oil data is published weeks earlier than closely watched US Energy Information Administration trade figures. The EIA, which bases its numbers on the Census data, will release its monthly crude figures at the end of the month.

REUTERS