The U.S.' crude oil exports hit their highest level in history last week, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data compiled by Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
Crude oil exports increased by 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 2.13 million bpd for the week ending Oct. 27, the EIA data showed.
This is the first time that crude exports climbed above the 2 million bpd mark in history, and it is also the all-time highest level that the U.S. reached in exporting crude oil.
The U.S.' crude oil export volume also surpassed that of the individual output of nine of the 14 OPEC members.
The country's crude exports of 2 million bpd in late October is higher than the individual oil production of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar and Venezuela.
Only Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had an oil production above 2 million bpd in September, according to the latest data available from OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report released on Oct. 11.
The U.S. Congress had placed a ban on exporting domestically produced crude oil during the 1970s with a series of legislation. This came after the 1973 Arab oil embargo exposed the U.S.' dependence on foreign oil resources and threatened American energy security.
However, the U.S. Congress lifted the ban on U.S.' crude oil exports in December 2015 due to increased domestic oil production and crude inventories in the U.S. since the 2008 shale revolution.
Since lifting the ban on exports, both the volume and the number of destinations of the U.S.' crude exports have also increased.
In 2015, the U.S. exported an average of 465,000 bpd of crude oil, and this showed a modest increase of only 12 percent in 2016 to reach an annual average of 520,000 bpd, the EIA data showed.
The real increase came in the first half of 2017.
The U.S.' crude oil exports rose to an average of 900,000 bpd in the first half of this year, from the average of 600,000 bpd in the first half of 2016, according to the EIA data.
The number of destinations that crude oil is exported to has also increased since the removal of the ban. In 2015, the U.S.' crude oil exports reached 10 different countries. This number rose to 17 in the first half of 2016 and reached 26 in the first half of 2017.
As the largest recipients of U.S. crude oil exports, Canada takes top place.
As of August 2017 -- the latest monthly EIA data available -- the U.S.' neighbor to the north imported 252,000 bpd of crude oil from the U.S.
China ranked second by importing 145,000 bpd of the U.S.' crude as of August this year.
And, the U.K. received 89,000 bpd of crude exports from the U.S.
These countries were followed by South Korea, India, and the Netherlands in August, respectively.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr