By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters – Exports are rising due to growing demand from Asia, Europe, and recovering U.S. Production from the lows caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

A combination of rising global demand and supply disruptions, as well as international tension, has fueled worries about crude oil supplies. Some analysts have even predicted that crude might reach $100 per barrel. This has resulted in increased demand for U.S. crude oil and increased exports.

Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst in the Americas, said that U.S. maritime crude oil exports have been increasing over recent weeks, reaching close to 3 million barrels per hour so far this month. This is just below the December crude oil exports average of 3.2 million barrels per day, which was the highest month since February 2020.

Refinitivikon shipping data indicated that many of the February cargoes are heading to India, South Korea, China and South Korea. They are three of the most regular buyers for U.S. crude oil. According to the International Energy Agency, Asia’s demand for crude oil will rise by 4% to 37.2 Million bpd in 2022. This makes it the largest region that is ahead of the pace in 2019.

John Kilduff from Again Capital Management said, “Exports are what is underpinning this market right now.” I expect that the 3-million-per-day figure will become the norm.”

The U.S. Gulf Coast’s crude oil stockpiles were reduced to 220 million barrels by exports this month. This is an increase of only two years.

In order to attract buyers, lighter barrels produced in the United States will be more attractive due to increased vehicle traffic. According to the IEA, Thursday’s global gasoline demand will rebound to 26.3 Million bpd – a mere 1% decrease from 2019’s.

U.S. imports to Europe were affected by supply disruptions in Libya. These outages began in December.

Refinitiv Eikon data revealed that the United States exported 2.3 million barrels to Italy in December. This is an increase of the 1.6 million shipped in November.

Smith stated that everyone is experiencing strong demand growth for the year. When you consider where supply growth comes from, it is clear that America is leading there.

The Energy Information Administration predicts that the February crude oil output of the major U.S.-based shale formations will reach 8.54 million barrels per day, the highest figure since March 2020. The Permian Basin will produce 5.1 million barrels per day, which is also an unprecedented figure.