For the first time since 1975, the United States undertook oil exports. A tanker belonging to Conoco Phillips left the port in Texas for Italy. NuStar Energy spokesperson, Mary Rose Brown, said the tanker sailed from the port of Corpus Christi, where the company has its dockside facility. The tanker is loaded with crude oil and natural gas liquids, and it is set to make a shipment to an Italian port. Swiss company Vitol Group will receive the cargo. According to Bloomberg, within the next few days, a tanker with crude oil for Vitol will depart from the port in Houston. The company owns stakes in refineries across a number of countries. Late December, it became known that Texas-based company Enterprise Products signed a contract for delivery of 600,000 barrels of crude to the Swiss refinery which distributes diesel fuel to Northern Europe.
On December 19, the United States lifted the ban on oil exports after US President Barack Obama signed the draft of the budget for 2016. Crude exports were resumed following a slump in oil prices. On December 31, 2015, Brent crude oil fell to $37.6 per barrel.
Nowadays, the US oil inventories are estimated to be at 486 million barrels. An increase in crude inventories is related to the growing volumes of shale oil production. On average, the country produces over 9 million barrels per day, when Russia drills around 10.7 million.
