US VGO Imports Highest in Three Years with Steady Refinery Utilization

In August 2025, the U.S. imported heavy feedstocks such as vacuum gasoil at levels not seen in more than a year and half as refinery utilization has remained healthy.

In vacuum gasoil (VGO) movements, the U.S. was reported to have imported 4.39 million bbl in August, versus 1.74 million bbl in July and 3.77 million bbl in August 2024, according to Vortexa energy cargo tracking data.

The August total marked the highest VGO import level since April 2022 when more than 5 million bbl were brought into the U.S.

In the spring of 2022, U.S. VGO imports started to become severely impaired by sanctions placed on Russian petroleum products in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Broken down by country of origin for the August imports, the top three countries included 1.78 million bbl from Saudi Arabia; 1.04 million bbl from Netherlands; and 600,400 bbl from Denmark.

US Refinery Utilization Strong Midyear

Refinery utilization has been reported to be strong over the summer with the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing refinery utilization around 96% during August, which was up more than one percentage point from July.

The U.S. monthly average of VGO imports comes at a time that in theory margins could be at relatively decent levels for refineries using VGO as a feedstock.

The crack spread for the U.S. Gulf Coast 70/30 split UNL/ULSD versus WTI averaged around $25.74/bbl in August and went as high as $28.39/bbl, the highest level since March 2024, according to the OPIS International Feedstocks Intelligence Report.

The 70/30 split is comprised of 70% of the prices of USGC waterborne unleaded plus 30% of the prices of USGC waterborne ultra low-sulfur diesel (ULSD,) and provides refiners a sense of margins when running vacuum gasoil through fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) units.

Regular gasoline cracks have firmed lately and recently saw their highest level since May 2025.

While the 70/30 split provides ballpark margins, refiners must take into account Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) costs under the Renewable Fuel Standard, which can damper these margins for refiners who are not in positions to blend biofuels into gasoline or diesel.

RVO costs in recent months were seeing their highest levels in several years, but have since pulled back.

Applying the RVO cost to the USGC 70/30 split crack spread would put the August average still at $19.23/bbl, which would still leave a margin below $4/bbl for refiners buying LSVGO at an assessed price of around $15.50/bbl over WTI.

US Naphtha Exports Steady, South America Top Destination

Switching to other feedstocks, U.S. naphtha exports in August were reported to be 9.17 million bbl, 2.04 million bbl more than July, but 1.86 million bbl lower than last August, according to Vortexa data.

Brazil was the top destination during August, taking about 2.57 million bbl, followed by Colombia with 1.63 million bbl, then South Korea with 1.58 million bbl.

U.S. naphtha imports in August were around 327,900-bbl, nearly flat to July level and well below the 1.07 million bbl in August 2024.

The heavy naphtha to WTI crack averaged in positive territory in August at about $1.42/bbl, which was nearly a $3.70/bbl swing compared with July’s average of negative $2.27/bbl, but down from last August’s $2.86/bbl average.

Venezuela Naphtha Trade Remains in Flux

Vortexa analysts noted in a recent spotlight that the “U.S.-Venezuela naphtha trade has yet to return despite the restart of crude exports from the South
American country into the US Gulf Coast.”

Two tankers, Nave Cosmos and Sea Jaguar, were sitting outside of Chevron’s Pascagoula terminal with crude from Venezuela.

This year, Vortexa notes that Venezuela accounted for about 45% of total U.S. naphtha exports.

“However, recent military action by the U.S. – as the U.S. sends warships to the coast of Venezuela on a reported drug trafficking operation – could lead to further near-term pauses of naphtha shipments.”

–Reporting by Eric Wieser, ewieser@opisnet.com; Editing by Tom Sosnowski, tsosnowski@opsinet.com