The Oil and Gas Journal reports here that September petroleum imports plunged to the 1995 level while September was a record month for exports of refined products:
Total petroleum imports for September registered a 16.3% drop from the prior year, averaging just below 8.4 million b/d, which was the lowest level since February 1995. Crude oil imports averaged 7.4 million b/d, down 6.7% over the same period, to the lowest September level in 18 years. Imports of refined petroleum products dropped 52.5% to average 1 million b/d, the lowest level for US Energy Information Administration records dating to 1981. Meanwhile, exports of refined products increased 18.4% from last year to nearly 4.3 million b/d, the highest September level on record and the third-highest exports level ever recorded.
-------------------------------------------------
Imports are a subtraction from GDP, so the big drop in imports coupled with a big surge in refined petroleum exports in September no doubt contributed significantly to the net plus to GDP in the trade column of today's report.
The American Petroleum Institute reports separately here that imports of petroleum in 3Q2014 were 11.4% lower than in the same period in 2013.
