That’s a decline in trade worth about

 That’s a decline in trade worth about $166 million a day based on current prices. Benchmark Brent crude oil traded at $106.95 a barrel Thursday.

And the trend isn’t expected to stop soon. U.S. production is forecast to reach 9.6 million barrels a day in 2016, more than Saudi Arabia pumped last year.

Even though Saudi Arabia remains the second-largest foreign supplier of U.S. crude after Canada — partly because state oil producer Saudi Aramco has a
refinery network that helps ensure an American market for its crude — shipments fell slightly last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration.

For Saudi Arabia and other Middle East producers, the shale boom is accelerating the redirection of oil shipments toward Asia. China, which overtook the U.S.
as the world’s largest oil importer in

September last year, is becoming an increasingly important customer. It imported 53.9 million tons of Saudi crude in 2013, or about 1 million barrels a day.
That’s 28 percent more than in 2009, according to Chinese customs data.