The value of energy trade between the United States and Mexico dropped by nearly 15% in 2023, falling from $77.8 billion in 2022 to $66.5 billion when adjusted for inflation. This decline was primarily driven by lower fuel prices, which outweighed the increase in trade volume between the two nations. Energy trade value encompasses both the monetary worth of imports and exports and is influenced by commodity prices and trade volumes.
Specifically, inflation-adjusted U.S. energy exports to Mexico saw a 19% decrease in 2023. Similarly, inflation-adjusted energy imports from Mexico decreased by 6% during the same period, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which has tracked this data since 1996.
Crude oil imports from Mexico to the United States saw an increase in volume, averaging 733,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2023, marking a 15% rise from 2022. However, global crude oil prices fell, with Brent crude averaging $82.41 per barrel (b) compared to $100.94/b in 2022. Despite the increased volume, these lower prices caused the value of U.S. crude oil imports from Mexico to decrease by 4% in 2023 compared to the previous year. Crude oil comprised 81% of all energy imports from Mexico in 2023, with no crude oil exported from the United States to Mexico during the year.
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In 2023, Mexico remained the largest market for U.S. petroleum product exports. The country’s aging refinery system struggled to meet domestic demand, prompting significant imports of U.S. petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and propane. Petroleum products constituted 87% of all U.S. energy exports to Mexico in 2023, with exports averaging 1.2 million b/d, a slight increase from 2022. Despite the higher export volumes, the inflation-adjusted value of U.S. petroleum product exports declined by 9%, dropping from $40 billion in 2022 to $36 billion in 2023.
Natural gas trade primarily consisted of pipeline shipments from the U.S. to Mexico, reaching a record 6.2 billion cubic feet per day in 2023, an 8% increase from the previous year. However, due to lower prices, the trade value of natural gas plummeted by 52% compared to 2022.
Electricity trade between the two nations, mainly across the U.S.-Mexico border into California, New Mexico, and Texas, saw minimal changes. In 2023, U.S. electricity imports from Mexico rose by 20% to 5.7 terawatthours (TWh), while U.S. electricity exports to Mexico declined sharply by 65% to 1.8 TWh, resulting in a net trade deficit of 3.9 TWh for the United States.