Oil exports from the U.S. in April rose to the highest level in 15 years as Canadian refineries replaced more expensive imports from Europe and West Africa with shale oil from North Dakota and Texas. The U.S. shipped 268,000 barrels a day in April, the Energy Information Administration reported today. That’s the most since April 1999, and a more than sixfold increase since April 2012. Federal law allows exports of unrefined crude to Canada and restricts them to most other destinations. The increase in exports follows a boom in oil production driven by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in places like North Dakota and Texas. The surge in output has increased supplies in the U.S., driving down prices relative to the rest of the world. “The boom in U.S. production caused a price differential to grow between foreign crude and U.S. crude,” said Carl Larry, president of […]