According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, almost one-third of the energy the country produced last year was exported.
Based on the EIA’s Monthly Energy Review , the U.S. exported about 30% of its domestic primary energy production in 2024. Nearly all of the exports were fossil fuels (crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, and coal) destined for other countries in North America, Europe, or Asia.
The agency goes on to say that the country set multiple records for energy production and exports in 2024. Of the record 103 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) of total primary energy production in the country, a record 31 quads went to other countries.
While the Netherlands was a top-five destination for U.S. petroleum, natural gas, and coal in 2024, EIA pointed out that those exports may later be sent to other countries in and around Europe, since the country has a large storage capacity and a regional trading hub located in Rotterdam.
The percentage of exports has grown considerably in recent decades, with petroleum products and natural gas increasing consistently since 2005, while crude oil experienced a drop between 2012 and 2016, continuing to increase since then.
Petroleum
In 2024, the United States exported 55% of its domestic crude oil and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production either directly as crude oil or as processed petroleum products such as propane, distillate fuel oil, and motor gasoline. This translates to 10.8 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products exported per day.
European and Asian countries were the recipients of the majority of the petroleum export growth. Several factors are believed to have led to this, such as the removal of restrictions on crude oil exports in 2016, domestic exporting infrastructure expanding as global demand increases, and Europe banning seaborne crude oil imports from Russia in 2022.
U.S. crude oil and NGPL production and exports grew rapidly in the past decade, outpacing domestic petroleum demand growth and declining imports. Accounting for 11%, Mexico was the main export destination of these energy sources in 2024, followed by the Netherlands (10%) and China (8%).
Since the North American country has been bustling with exploration activity lately, the level of production is slated to increase. Delivering on its reset strategy to grow its global oil and natural gas business, BP recently started up its Argos Southwest Extension project project bringing more oil to its Argos platform in the Gulf of America.
Natural gas As for dry natural gas, the country exported about 20% of it in 2024. Production and exports of this energy source also grew faster than domestic demand and imports in the past decade. 7.7 billion cubic feet were exported, and Mexico topped the list in the natural gas segment as well, accounting for 31% of exports, followed by Canada with 13% and the Netherlands with 6%.
Most of the export growth during the past decade went to countries in Europe and Asia. EIA believes one of the reasons for this is the expanded domestic liquified natural gas (LNG) export capacity, which the Department of Energy (DOE) recently deemed to be in the public interest , and increased European demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which reduced natural gas shipped to Europe from Russia.
Several U.S. LNG projects hit milestones lately, with Bechtel completing the second train for Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 (CCL Stage 3) project, Cheniere signing a 20-year LNG supply deal with JERA, and Venture Global receiving authorization from DOE to boost the export capacity at its Calcasieu Pass plant.
Coal
During the past decade, U.S. coal production, consumption, and imports declined as operators retired many domestic coal electric power plants. According to EIA, U.S. coal exports to countries in Asia and Africa increased, and exports to Europe declined.
The exports of coal account for a larger share of a shrinking market. About 25% of its coal production, or 108 million short tons, was exported in 2024. 23% of this went to India, 12% to China, and 8% to Brazil.
The rising exports in the fossil energy segment are expected to continue their upward trend during the current administration as well, since ‘drill, baby, drill’ is at the heart of President Trump’s energy policy, where oil and gas reign supreme and LNG exports are encouraged.
In line with this, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced plans for new oil and gas acreage in the Gulf of America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), with approximately 15,000 unleased blocks on offer .