The port of Corpus Christi, Texas, the top U.S. oil export hub, said it exported 6.40 million barrels per day of crude oil in the first quarter, up 6.9% from the same period a year ago.
The U.S. Gulf Coast port handles more than half the nation's oil exports, benefiting from its pipeline ties to South and West Texas shale fields. Its volumes have risen along with shale oil production.
Overall, the port has moved nearly 48.9 million metric tons of goods through the Corpus Christi Ship Channel in the first quarter. Crude oil shipments during the period were 30.2 million metric tons, it said in a press release on Friday.
"The Port of Corpus Christi and its customers continue to show strong performance, particularly in the energy and agricultural sectors," said Kent Britton, CEO for the Port of Corpus Christi.
But even as exports rose in the first quarter, oil shipments to domestic customers fell, to 99,483 bpd from 652,937 bpd a year ago, according to port data.
(Reuters - Reporting by Anjana Anil and Brijesh Patel; editing by Jonathan Oatis)