The United States is buying Russian oil

The latest report issued by one of the most powerful credit rating agencies in the world, Standard & Poor’s, stated that the share of US imports of Russian oil reached a record high and accounted for 8% of the total volume of oil imports to the United States in January of 2021.

The Russian Strategic Center for Cultures, published an article by Vladimir Malyshev said that this share is increasing after the United States ’imports of Russian crude oil in 2018 accounted for 4% of total imports, according to Standard & Poor’s data.

In fact, the total volume of oil supplies from Russia to the United States is currently exceeding that of Saudi Arabia.

While US imports of Russian oil have reached their highest level in 10 years, US refineries continue to increase their sales volume.

An expert on oil economics and policies at the “Vynam” for securities and investment “Alexei Kalachov”, said that US refineries operate with a certain type of products, and this justifies the Americans’ need for Russian oil.

The expert continued, saying that most of the heavy oil in the United States is imported from Venezuela, and in light of the imposition of severe sanctions on it, it became clear that Russian oil has become the most suitable for US refineries.

In addition, the United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world. US Energy Information Administration data show that US oil consumption within one year is 20.41 million barrels per day, which constitutes more than a fifth (20 percent) of global crude consumption.

On the other hand, the US reserves of oil are considered modest compared with the reserves of a large oil country such as Saudi Arabia, for example.

Saudi Arabia is swimming on huge reserves of 266.26 billion barrels, according to data from the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources.

These reserves are sufficient to cover the current production (10.7 million barrels per day) for more than 68 years, which puts Saudi Arabia safe at least during that period, and enables it to fulfill its obligations to supply the global market with oil at least for a period of 68 years.

On the other hand, US oil reserves amount to 32.77 billion barrels, which is enough for the United States to produce only about eight years.

In other words, the United States is not obliged to place its entire weight on its limited oil reserves for reasons that it deems logical, and instead prefers the balance between production and import.