Crude Exports in US Cool in Challenge to Trump’s Drilling Goals

President Donald Trump’s plan to boost oil production is facing another hurdle as fresh data show US oil exports expanded at the slowest pace outside the throes of the pandemic.

Daily exports rose to 4.103 million barrels in 2024, a record but up only 1% from a year earlier as China, the engine of oil consumption for the past two decades, slashed purchases by half. Demand from the world’s largest oil importer has been falling amid a sluggish economic recovery and a government policy that has boosted adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles. Sales to the Asian country may fall ...