Editor's Note: On July 7, the Energy Information Administration released an analysis of U.S. energy imports in 2024, reporting that the U.S. recorded the lowest level of energy imports in almost 40 years. Read part of the report below.
In 2024, the United States imported about 17% of its domestic energy supply, half of the record share set in 2006 and the lowest share since 1985, according to the administration's Monthly Energy Review. The decline in imports’ share of supply in the previous two decades is attributable to both an increase in domestic energy production and a decrease in energy imports since 2006.
U.S. energy supply comes from three sources: domestic energy production, energy imports from other countries and any energy brought out of storage.
In 2024, for the third consecutive year, the U.S remained a net exporter of energy, producing a record amount that continues to exceed consumption. Individually, U.S. natural gas, crude oil, natural gas plant liquids (NGPLs), biofuels, solar, and wind each set domestic production records in 2024.
U.S. total energy imports were about 22 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024 and have been relatively flat since 2021. Crude oil and refined petroleum product imports combined accounted for 84% of U.S. total energy imports in 2024, with natural gas accounting for most of the remainder at 15%.
Between 2006 and 2024, U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products fell 39%, from about 14 million barrels per day (b/d) to 8 million b/d. All of the decrease occurred in the Gulf Coast region, home to large shares of domestic production and consumption, and the East Coast region, home to a large share of domestic consumption. However, during the same period, imports of crude oil and petroleum products increased in all other regions: the Midwest, Mountain and West Coast.
In 2006, OPEC countries — including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iraq — in aggregate accounted for the largest share of U.S. crude oil and petroleum imports. Since then, imports from OPEC countries decreased 77% while imports from Canada nearly doubled. Total crude oil and petroleum imports from Canada to the United States exceeded those from OPEC for the first time in 2014 and have every year since. Following the recent expansion of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline, U.S. imports of crude oil from Canada reached record highs in 2024. Nearly all crude oil used by U.S. refineries in the Midwest and Mountain regions comes from Canada.
