Saudi Oil Pushing out Canadian Crude in U.S.

Canadian oil producers are losing as the U.S. imports more crude from Saudi Arabia, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data. The U.S. imported 3.4M barrels a day of Canadian crude for the week ending Mar. 20, says EIA, a 12% drop from the prior week's 3.8M barrels. Saudi imports, on the other hand, jumped 42% to 604,000 barrels a day from 425,000. Up until recently, Canada had been taking market share from other importers to the U.S., even while total imports fell, EIA said in a March 19 note. "Domestic refineries' use of crude oil from Canada has increased in nearly every year since 2009, but imports from Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela have generally decreased." If Saudi Arabia was aiming to gain market share from its price war, early indications are Canada may already be starting to suffer.