21 June 2016
Muscat - The United States is emerging as a major buyer of Omani crude since resuming imports from the Sultanate after a gap of almost three years. US West Coast refiners have imported several cargoes of crude from Oman in the recent months.
According to statistics, refiners in the world's largest energy consumer have bought two million barrels of Omani crude in April and May, while nearly one million barrels were imported in June, mostly at Long Beach, California.
Traditionally, Asian countries have been buyers of Oman's crude with China constituting the lion's share of 60 per cent of the exports.
"Despite the enduring trend of large quantities of Omani exports to Asian markets, a new player jumped on board for a second month in a row", commented the report in the monthly bulletin by Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas.
The share of US imports of Oman crude rose to 14.02 per cent followed by Japan at 13.54 per cent, India and Taiwan 3.76 per cent and 3.80 per cent respectively.
According to the report, Oman's total crude oil and condensates production during May 2016 stood at 30.10 million barrels, a daily average of 999,836 barrels, constituting a rise by 0.56 per cent compared to the daily production during April 2016 when calculating the daily average. "The US has bared its appetite for Oman crude and become a potential competitor to some traditional buyers in Asia," added the report.
The imports of the medium sour crude blend started entering the United States shortly after the price of crude from Oman became more competitive against other grades that typically feed West Coast refineries.
The United States had not imported crude from Oman in nearly three years, according to the US Energy Information Administration, as pricing spreads between Middle Eastern crude and other global benchmarks did not make such imports economically viable.
According to a report in Freight News, the first cargo arrived on a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) co-loaded with Kuwaiti crude.
Another VLCC discharged nearly two million barrels in May, and the tanker C Freedom discharged roughly 870,000 in early June, according to Freight News trading sources and Reuters Trade Flows data.
Smaller parcels of Omani crude also discharged in Benicia, California, in April and May, the flows data shows.
The crude was transported from large ships in parcels to refiners including Valero Energy, Shell and BP,
according to the flows data.
Sources familiar with the matter, according to Freight News, the cargoes were booked earlier this year when the arbitrage opened.
Muscat - The United States is emerging as a major buyer of Omani crude since resuming imports from the Sultanate after a gap of almost three years. US West Coast refiners have imported several cargoes of crude from Oman in the recent months.
According to statistics, refiners in the world's largest energy consumer have bought two million barrels of Omani crude in April and May, while nearly one million barrels were imported in June, mostly at Long Beach, California.
Traditionally, Asian countries have been buyers of Oman's crude with China constituting the lion's share of 60 per cent of the exports.
"Despite the enduring trend of large quantities of Omani exports to Asian markets, a new player jumped on board for a second month in a row", commented the report in the monthly bulletin by Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas.
The share of US imports of Oman crude rose to 14.02 per cent followed by Japan at 13.54 per cent, India and Taiwan 3.76 per cent and 3.80 per cent respectively.
According to the report, Oman's total crude oil and condensates production during May 2016 stood at 30.10 million barrels, a daily average of 999,836 barrels, constituting a rise by 0.56 per cent compared to the daily production during April 2016 when calculating the daily average. "The US has bared its appetite for Oman crude and become a potential competitor to some traditional buyers in Asia," added the report.
The imports of the medium sour crude blend started entering the United States shortly after the price of crude from Oman became more competitive against other grades that typically feed West Coast refineries.
The United States had not imported crude from Oman in nearly three years, according to the US Energy Information Administration, as pricing spreads between Middle Eastern crude and other global benchmarks did not make such imports economically viable.
According to a report in Freight News, the first cargo arrived on a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) co-loaded with Kuwaiti crude.
Another VLCC discharged nearly two million barrels in May, and the tanker C Freedom discharged roughly 870,000 in early June, according to Freight News trading sources and Reuters Trade Flows data.
Smaller parcels of Omani crude also discharged in Benicia, California, in April and May, the flows data shows.
The crude was transported from large ships in parcels to refiners including Valero Energy, Shell and BP,
according to the flows data.
Sources familiar with the matter, according to Freight News, the cargoes were booked earlier this year when the arbitrage opened.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
