The United States received in December the lowest volume of OPEC-derived crude oil in five years, according to market intelligence firm Kpler and data from Refinitive Eikon, cited by Reuters on Thursday. 1.63 million bpd of oil from OPEC member countries made its way to US shores in December, down from 1.80 million bpd in November and 1.78 million bpd in October. Saudi Arabia shipped 534,000 barrels per day to the United States in December, a near 100,000 bpd drop from November. Algeria’s shipments were also down almost 100,000 bpd, and Nigeria’s shipments to the US dipped by almost 50,000 bpd. Iraq, on the other hand, increased crude oil shipments to the United States by 140,000 bpd, and for somewhat of a shock, Venezuela shipped 22,738 barrels per day more to the US in December, although the long-term trend here shows a steady decline in Venezuela’s oil exports to […]