Americas Oil Bonanza Refills Atlantic Basin Void
The Atlantic Basin lost more than 2 million barrels per day of crude oil after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The US and EU increasingly shunned Moscow’s oil supplies and Russia started sending its oil to Asia. Since then, however, key suppliers in the Americas have ramped up output that turned out to be a match for the volume and quality of Russian oil flowing to India and China. As they were increasing supply, the US, Brazil, Guyana and Canada found a new and thirsty market close to home, most of that in Europe. Brazil, Guyana and Canada started 2022 at a combined crude production of 7.4 million b/d and that has since increased to 8.8 million b/d. Most production is a heavier oil that can replace Russian Urals. As a bonus, they all have lower sulfur. In that period, the US added a muscular 1.8 million b/d to 13.3 million b/d of mostly sweeter crude. The combined 3.2 million b/d in new oil was complimented by Norway’s prolific Johan Sverdrup, which added 250,000 b/d to 750,000 b/d over the past two years. Most of these perfect Urals replacement barrels stay in the region.