U.S. crude oil exports rose 83% in May–July, more from price than from barrels

U.S. exports of crude oil reached $41.8 billion in May–July 2026, 83% more than in the same three months of 2025, Census Bureau data through July show. Most of the $19.0 billion increase came from a higher value per barrel, not from more barrels.

Crude was the largest contributor among 4-digit product headings to the rise in U.S. goods exports over those months: it accounted for 26% of the $73.6 billion increase in all exports, and its share of the total rose to 6.8% from 4.2%. Refined products (HS 2710) added $13.7 billion more, a 50% rise, on 7% more barrels. Part of the growth in headline export figures (July alone was $197.5 billion, up 12.5% on a year earlier) is therefore a higher value per barrel of oil shipped, and the quantity data are the way to separate the two.

Price did more of the work than volume

Census records crude exports in barrels as well as dollars, under three lines of Schedule B, the U.S. export classification. Dividing value by barrels gives an average value per barrel: $97.18 in May–July 2026, against $68.39 a year earlier, up 42%. Barrels rose 29%, from 333.2 million to 429.9 million. Valued at last year's $68.39, the extra barrels account for $6.6 billion of the $19.0 billion increase; the higher value per barrel accounts for the other $12.4 billion, or 65%.

The balance shifted within the quarter. In May, barrels were 59% above a year earlier and value per barrel 62% higher. By July, barrels were up just 1.6%, while value per barrel was still 17% higher, so July's 18% rise in crude export value was almost entirely per-barrel value.

A change in grades was not what moved the average. Crude of 25 degrees API or more, other than condensate, made up 98.0% of the barrels shipped in May–July 2026, and its value per barrel rose 42%, the same as the total; heavy crude rose 46% and condensate 49%.

Where the barrels went

Japan, South Korea and Singapore together took 148.8 million barrels in May–July 2026, 102.3 million more than a year earlier: more than the 96.7 million-barrel rise in the total. Shipments to all other destinations fell 2.0% in barrels, yet their value rose $7.0 billion, all of it from the higher value per barrel.

Japan took 74.0 million barrels worth $7.5 billion, against 8.5 million barrels and $0.6 billion a year earlier, and its share of U.S. crude barrels rose to 17.2% from 2.6%. South Korea took 59.2 million barrels, up 58%, worth $6.0 billion, up 144%. Singapore took 15.6 million barrels worth $1.5 billion, after $33 million a year earlier.

The Netherlands remained the largest destination, at 82.5 million barrels, but its barrels rose only 5% while their value rose 47%, and its share of barrels fell to 19.2% from 23.6%. India took 55% fewer barrels, 10.5 million, and Canada 14% fewer, 31.8 million. Nigeria, which took 18.6 million barrels worth $1.3 billion in May–July 2025, took none: the data show no U.S. crude shipped there since March 2026. The data do not show why buyers' volumes shifted.

May–July of each year. Per-barrel figures are averages of declared values; they vary with the month of shipment and the grade, and are not contract prices.

A record May, and a return to earlier levels by July

May 2026 was the largest month for U.S. crude exports in data back to January 2010, by value ($19.2 billion) and by barrels (177.6 million); April 2026 was second on both. May's average value per barrel, $107.84, was the highest since September 2013. By July, exports were back to $9.0 billion and 110.2 million barrels, the fewest barrels in any month since July 2025. Over the 12 months to July, crude exports were $126.5 billion, up 22%.

For Japan, April through July 2026 are the four largest months of U.S. crude shipments in the data, the largest being May at $3.8 billion and 33.6 million barrels. May–July alone, at $7.5 billion, exceeded the $3.1 billion Japan took in 2024 and 2025 combined.

Singapore is a return rather than a new destination: it took $7.2 billion of U.S. crude in 2024 and $1.8 billion in 2025, but only $396 million in all of April 2025 to March 2026. Nigeria's shipments have come in runs: monthly from February to July 2024, none from August 2024 to January 2025, then monthly again from February 2025 to March 2026. China, which took $6.1 billion in 2024, has taken none since February 2025.

What to watch

The Census Bureau publishes August 2026 trade data on Oct. 6, 2026, according to its release schedule; July's figures are preliminary and may be revised. The quantity data will show whether barrels, not only value, stay above a year earlier: in July they were 1.6% higher. The trade explorer charts monthly U.S. crude exports and can be narrowed to any destination.