U.S. crude imports climbed 5% to 7.953 million barrels a day in January from December, according to statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday.

Meanwhile, net imports of oil jumped 20% to 7.160 million barrels a day in the first month of this year from the prior month. Net imports are made up of the total amount of crude and petroleum products (such as gasoline and diesel) imported, minus the amount of crude and products exported.

The increase in both categories went against the recent tide. Imports have been on the wane as domestic crude production has steadily climbed in recent years, due to new drilling techniques that have unlocked a vast amounts of oil from shale formations.

The increased U.S. oil production has eased the need for imports, analysts said.

December marked the first time crude imports were below eight million barrels a day in 15 years. Also, U.S. net oil imports had declined for five straight months before January's increase.

The downward trend of net imports in the U.S. has prompted some to suggest China has, or would, overtake the U.S. as the world's No. 1 net importer of oil. December's U.S. net oil imports of 5.987 million barrels a day put the focus on January--as estimates for China's net oil imports in the month ranged from 5.978 million barrels a day to 6.13 million barrels a day. However, the January number for the U.S. shot up and topped seven million barrels a day.

Canada , the top supplier of crude to the U.S. for every month since March 2006, once again led the list of sources of imports in January, increasing supplies 7.8% from the prior month and 9.7% from a year earlier.

Διαβάστε ακόμα