According to data from the Korea National Oil Corp. on Monday, U.S. crude imports from January to November 2024 totaled 156.29 million barrels, surpassing the previous year's record of 142.37 million barrels.
The import value amounted to $13.33 billion, positioning the United States as the second-largest crude supplier after Saudi Arabia with around 200 million barrels.
The United Arab Emirates followed in third place with 131.62 million barrels. Iraq and Kuwait followed as fourth and fifth with 87.38 million and 74.64 million barrels, respectively.
The average price for U.S. crude stood at $85.03 per barrel, about 1 to 5 dollars higher than Saudi Arabian ($83.82), the UAE ($84.57), and Iraqi ($79.87) crude. However, the elimination of a 3 percent tariff under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the U.S. made American crude more economically attractive.
U.S. crude imports have risen by 19.9 percent over the past three years since 2021, when the U.S. overtook Kuwait as South Korea's second-largest crude supplier.
The trend aligns with America's emergence as the world's largest oil exporter since 2018, accounting for 14.7 percent of global crude production in 2022, ahead of Saudi Arabia with 13.1 percent and Russia with 12.7 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
"We have increased U.S. crude imports whenever it was price competitive after tariff considerations, without government requests," said an oil industry official. "Mandatory increases in imports from specific countries could be seen as excessive government intervention."
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