Gulf Coast states have virtually eliminated imports of light crude oils from foreign countries due to booming U.S. oil production from hydraulically fractured wells over the country’s shale plays.
Gulf Coast states like Texas and Louisiana used to import as much as 1.3 million barrels per day of light, sweet crude oil — more than any other region of the country, according to government data. But now the booming U.S. light crude oil production has rendered imports virtually obsolete.