U.S. Petroleum Imports from OPEC Have Fallen Since 2000

OPEC began a week-long meeting in Vienna yesterday. The oil cartel has agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day, with the exception of Iran. As of today, the U.S. is a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years, meaning the amount of crude oil the United States exports exceeds the country's imports.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, since 2000 the U.S. was importing over 5 million barrels of petroleum products per day from OPEC countries. In 2017 that has fallen to just above 3 million barrels of petroleum products per day, a roughly 35 percent drop in imports.