U.S. crude oil exports rose significantly in the week ending August 21, 2026, according to our ship tracking analysis. Outbound marine terminal volumes across U.S. ports reached 4.5 million barrels per day, a 600,000 barrel per day increase from the prior week’s estimated 3.9 million barrels per day and a substantial jump from the first week of August, when volumes sank to roughly 2.8 million barrels per day. While crude oil exports are often lumpy, the consecutive weekly gains may indicate that a near-term bottom formed after the early August lows.
The recent rebound follows a period of sharp swings driven by the Iran conflict, which has created major volatility in both prices and global crude flows over the past six months. U.S. exports peaked in April and May 2026 near 5.3 million barrels per day before falling sharply in June and July (see graph below). That decline coincided with a brief reopening of the Strait of Hormuz that allowed pent-up Middle Eastern supply to reach markets and reduced immediate demand for U.S. barrels.
Data from these individual terminals reflected the drop: Gibson’s volumes eased from around 800,000 barrels per day in the spring peak to under 600,000 in July; ONEOK’s Seabrook facility near Houston fell from just over 500,000 barrels per day to about 300,000; and Enterprise’s Houston Ship Channel terminal declined from roughly 1 million barrels per day to around 600,000 (see below).
The latest uptick in export volumes arrives as Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases conclude at the end of August, with no additional barrels scheduled unless the Department of Energy issues a new request for proposal. Earlier export strength largely reflected the evacuation of commercial and SPR storage rather than higher production from U.S. basins. With inventories now more constrained, any sustained global need for U.S. crude to offset lost Middle Eastern supply could place greater pressure on remaining storage and influence price dynamics in the weeks and months ahead.
Flow/Transaction Updates and New Assets Under Coverage
Plainview has over 400 assets with crude oil throughput or transactional data on our platform and continues to add more each week. Data for existing assets under coverage are posted as soon as they become available. Below are the assets that were updated this week or newly added to coverage.
