Harvey’s Impact on World Oil Market Underlines Growing U.S. Role
- Fuel buyers from Latin America to Asia feel effects of storm
- Flooding shuts down about a quarter of U.S. refining capacity
U.S. Refinery Capacity at 7 Year Low
This article is for subscribers only.
World energy markets, from butane in Asia to diesel in Europe and gasoline in Latin America, are feeling the ripple effect of Texas’s deadly storm, highlighting the growing role of the U.S. in the global oil industry.
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the U.S. exported just 800,000 barrels a day of mostly refined products. Today it ships more than 6 million barrels a day of crude and fuels, an increase driven by a boom in shale production, the end of a ban on crude exports and the expansion of several refineries.