This is the first time imports have hit that level in two consecutive months since 2012. In total, more than 4.6m barrels of Russian oil have arrived at US refineries over this period.
Refineries in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been some of the biggest US buyers of Russian crude in the past two months, according to the data.
That trade has been helped by a narrowing in the price difference between the international Brent and West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark — the so-called Brent-WTI spread.
Brent’s premium to WTI, which traded as wide as $13 a barrel, as recently as March, sank to as low $2.65 a barrel in early June.
Another reason for this notable jump in US oil imports are discounts on physical cargoes that have made it economical for more European crudes to flow west, The Financial Times reported on Friday.
However, the data most likely reflects a short-term trend rather than a sustained resurgence in Russian oil exports to the US, which as recently as 2009-2010 often topped 300,000 b/d.
Russian oil shipments make up just a tiny 1 percent of total US crude imports, which still average more than 7m b/d, despite the vast surge in US crude production in the past 5 years, the newspaper wrote.
