Extensive pipeline systems and shared oil fields make crude flows a complicated process to track. Kpler tracks seaborne flows only, based on the physical point of load. As some countries export or import their crude oil from terminals located in other neighboring countries, we’ve prepared this guide to help users with these flows.

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Due to its landlocked fields, Kazakhstan exports its crude via the CPC terminal in Russia. Therefore, to distinguish between Russian and Kazakhstan CPC crude and to search for Russian seaborne exports, in flows, use the products : Eastern Russia Crude, Western Russia Crude and CPC Russia. More here.

Saudi-Arabia and Kuwait share a neutral zone (Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone) between the two countries, where exports are shared equally. There are two crude exporting terminals in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone and these are Khafji and Mina Saud. Therefore, to get an accurate representation of Kuwait or Saudi exports, you should query exports from Kuwait or Saudi and add on top of that 50% of exports from Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone. This can be done from here.

Bahrain does not have any seaborne exports of crude oil. All crude oil exports out of Bahrain originate from the offshore Abu Safah field and are exported via the Saudi port of Ras Tanura. Bahrain and Saudi-Arabia split these exports of Arab Medium Abu Safah crude equally. Therefore, to get an accurate representation of Bahrain exports, you should query World exports of Arab M Abu Safah, and 50% of these exports belong to Bahrain. This can be done here.

Crude exports out of Azerbaijan flow through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Azeri crude oil is then subsequently exported out of BTC Ceyhan in Turkey, and Supsa in Georgia. Therefore, to get an accurate representation of Azerbaijan exports you should query exports out of Supsa and BTC Ceyhan to World, as shown here.

China imports crude oil by sea from its East Coast. However, China also imports crude oil via pipelines, mainly from Russia, which we assume to be 830 kbd. On top of that China imports crude from Made Island in Myanmar, via the Myanmar-China pipeline. Therefore, to get the most accurate representation of China crude oil imports you should query imports into China and Made Island and then add 830 kbd (or any assumptions you have for pipeline imports from the Former Soviet Union). This can be done from here. You can see how our data compares with official Chinese customs data here.

Please note that our data shown on our platform are purely seaborne flows, and do not yet include the crude and condensate flows from Canada via pipelines. To account for these land based flows, we add a static 385 kbd to our raw flows (75 kbd for PADD 1 imports, 110 kbd PADD 3, and 200 kbd PADD 5). You can see how our data compares with the EIA’s data here.

Please note that the data shown on the platform are purely seaborne flows. However, it is inclusive of Canadian crude exports which are loaded from US installations. To account for these land based flows, we add a static 150 kbd to our raw flows. You can see how our data compares with the EIA’s data here. You can also search for US only crude/co exports using this link.

Trieste imports via Trieste are re-exported through the transalpine pipeline to Austria, Czech and Germany. Therefore, to account for Italy imports only, you must exclude trieste imports using this search.

Besides exporting crude from Al Basrah, Iraq also exports crude from Botas Ceyhan, Turkey. In order to capture the export figures from Iraq, you would need to query crude/co exports from Iraq & Botas Ceyhan with intra country toggled on (as some volumes of crude export from Botas Ceyhan would be imported into other Turkey installations. Search link

Please note that Norway’s Ekofisk field is connected via pipeline to Teesside, UK. Therefore, to accurately search for UK crude/co exports, search for exports from the United Kingdom excluding Teesside flows. This can be done here.

Middle Eastern exports to Europe typically pass through the Suez Canal. However, due to draft restrictions, VLCCs cannot fully transit the canal when fully loaded. As a result, these vessels partially offload their cargo at Ain Sukhna and then reload it at Sidi Kerir before continuing to Europe. To search for Middle Eastern exports to Europe, you can use this search. Please note that, due to limited data from Sidi Kerir, we may initially display generic grades, such as "Middle East from Sidi Kerir," when the specific cargo cannot be identified. This information will be updated as soon as we receive data from the destination port.

Some Middle Eastern exports to the Americas pass through the Suez Canal. However, due to draft restrictions, VLCCs cannot fully transit the canal when fully loaded. As a result, these vessels partially offload their cargo at Ain Sukhna and then reload it at Sidi Kerir before continuing to the Americas. To search for Middle Eastern exports to the Americas, you can use this search. Please note that, due to limited data from Sidi Kerir, we may initially display generic grades, such as "Middle East from Sidi Kerir," when the specific cargo cannot be identified. This information will be updated as soon as we receive data from the destination port.

Some countries import crude oil, store it, and later re-export it for strategic and economic reasons. Consequently, our flow data from these countries may include crude originating from other nations. Please be aware that, due to limited data from these storage facilities, we may initially display generic grades, such as "Crude/co," when the specific cargo cannot be identified. This information will be updated as soon as we receive data from the destination port.

The countries and installations that occasionally re-export crude include: