LOOP Did Not Deliver Sour Crude from Storage in September
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest U.S. privately owned deepwater crude terminal, said on Friday it made no deliveries of sour crude from storage last month, following two storms that hit the U.S. Gulf Coast.The facility closed on August 28 ahead of Hurricane Ida, which damaged production and processing facilities in the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing the suspension of millions of barrels of crude and gas output. A second storm, Nicholas, also caused brief interruptions for vessel navigation.The weather events particularly hit output of the Gulf's Mars sour crude…
Offshore Oil Wells, Ports Shut as Hurricane Sally Advances on U.S. Gulf
Energy companies, ports and refiners raced on Monday to shut down as Hurricane Sally grew stronger while lumbering toward the central U.S. Gulf Coast, the second significant hurricane to shutter oil and gas activity over the last month.The hurricane is disrupting oil imports and exports as the nation's sole offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), stopped loading tanker ships on Sunday, while the port of New Orleans closed on Monday.The U.S. government said 21%, or nearly 396,000 barrels per day (bpd), of offshore crude oil production and 25%…
US Energy Exports Severely Disrupted by Hurricane Laura
Oil and gas exports from the United States have been severely disrupted by Hurricane Laura, with nearly a million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports likely reduced this week by closures of U.S. Gulf Coast terminals and disruptions at ports.The hurricane also temporarily suspended operations at several liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the world’s third largest exporter of the super-cooled gas, with shipments on track to fall to their lowest in 18 months.Laura made landfall early Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana border, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the region…
Light Sweet Crude Exports Jump at LOOP
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) exported a record 283,333 barrels per day of light sweet crude last month, according to trade sources, as prices weakened against global Brent.LOOP, which exports mostly medium sour grades produced in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, last month exported more than twice the amount of light sweet from the prior month. Overall exports of U.S. crude hit a record 3.77 million barrels per day (bpd) one week in June, U.S. government data showed.A decline in oil imports at the facility, stemming from record U.S.
Record Number of VLCC Liftings at LOOP
Medium-sour crudes from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are being snapped up by overseas buyers, paving way for a record six supertankers to load at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in a matter of weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.The six scheduled loadings in late May and early June would double the record of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) reached in December. An unusual influx of Gulf of Mexico crudes to the U.S. deepwater export port and weakening prices are contributing to the exports, according to one of the people close to the matter.Mars Sour…
US Oil Export Boom Sparks Battle to Build Texas Ports
Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier path to regulatory approval and faces fewer objections from…
LOOP Resumes Normal Operations After Storm
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest privately-owned crude terminal in the United States, said it resumed normal operations at its Marine Terminal on Thursday after operations were suspended ahead of Hurricane Michael.Major oil producers and drillers began returning workers and restoring output at U.S. Gulf of Mexico facilities shut as Hurricane Michael blew through.Michael, the fiercest storm to hit Florida in more than 80 years, weakened into a tropical storm over central Georgia after it slammed into the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane.(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Subtropical Storm Alberto's Landfall Expected Early Next Week
U.S. Gulf of Mexico producers and refiners are monitoring Subtropical storm Alberto, which is expected to make landfall between east Louisiana and the Florida panhandle early next week, the companies said on Friday. The National Weather Service on Friday predicted the storm would bring heavy rain to the central Gulf Coast region and the southeastern United States later this weekend and continue into early next week. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), located about 20 miles south of the Louisiana coast in the Gulf, was operating normally, according to the company's website. The LOOP is the only U.S. port that can offload the largest crude oil tankers.
Dallas Company Secures Permits to Expand Crude Export Hub at Texas Port
Jupiter MLP LLC, a Dallas-based logistics company, has secured permits to expand a crude export dock at the Port of Brownsville in Texas, the latest in a series of moves made by U.S. companies to tap into booming overseas shipments.The expanded dock space will be able to accommodate Suezmax-size vessels, the company said in a statement Thursday.Privately-held Jupiter has also begun the permitting process to build an offshore supertanker loading facility six miles (9.6 km) off the coast of Texas.The facility will be connected to the expanded dock…
Texas Flood: U.S. Oil Pours into Global Markets
United States taking share from OPEC nations in Asia, Europe, as China’s biggest U.S. crude buyer to double imports. In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S. crude have landed in more than 30 countries, ranging from massive economies like China and India to tiny Togo. The repeal has unleashed a flood of U.S. shale oil, undercutting global crude prices, eroding the clout of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and seizing market share from many of its member countries.
U.S. GoM Energy Producers Evacuating Ahead of T/S Nate
Oil and natural gas producers began evacuating staff at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms on Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm in as many months to threaten Gulf Coast oil and refining facilities. Nate, which has already killed three people in Costa Rica, according to local authorities, is forecast to scrape past Honduras and Mexico, enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall early on Sunday in Louisiana, near several major refineries. That path takes it through an area populated by offshore oil and natural gas platforms, which pumps more than 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, about 17 percent of U.S.
Matrix Global Plans U.S. Crude Storage Deal
Matrix plans sweet crude storage futures at LOOP. Matrix Global Holdings is planning to start up an oil storage futures contract for low-sulphur crude oil that will enable companies to build up supplies for export cargoes, as Asia looks for more crude imports from the United States. The contract will give holders access to low-sulphur, or sweet, crude oil storage space at the Clovelly, Louisiana, terminal operated the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). The contract is expected to start up in about six months, Richard Redoglia, Matrix's chief executive officer told Reuters.
Crude Oil Markets Bullish, But Not Really: Russell
Sentiment is often a somewhat flighty and nebulous concept, but it appears that crude oil markets are turning increasingly bullish about the prospect for higher prices. Certainly the mood at this week's major industry conference in Singapore was a marked change from recent years, with several upbeat presentations, panel discussions and off-the-record chats giving the view that prices were more likely to rise than fall. The most bullish commentary at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) was from trading house Trafigura, whose co-head of group market risk…
Platts to Publish U.S. Crude Prices in Asia
Platts, Argus vie for U.S.-Asia crude benchmark. Oil pricing agency S&P Global Platts said on Thursday it planned to publish U.S. crude prices at the close of the Asian trading day starting in December as U.S. exports to the region have risen. The Platts announcement follows the launch last year by rival price agency Argus Media of U.S. Gulf Coast crude prices for the Asia-Pacific. The two companies are competing to establish a benchmark for oil flows on the trade route that has opened up after Washington lifted a decades-old ban on crude exports at the end of 2015.
Marathon Processed Record Crude Volumes in 2Q
Marathon Petroleum Corp processed a record 1.9 million barrels per day of crude oil at its seven U.S. refineries in the second quarter, fueled in part by robust refined product exports, the company's chief executive said on Thursday. U.S. exports of refined products have been a bright spot in the U.S. refining market this year. CEO Gary Heminger said the flows should continue to support strong refinery runs through the remainder of the year. "Export markets, which have been important to the high utilization of our refineries, are expected to remain robust," he said on an earnings call.
Tropical Storm Cindy Rolls in on US Gulf Coast
Tropical Storm Cindy is likely to hit the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Louisiana border on Wednesday night, threatening to bring flash floods from Texas to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. Cindy was located about 165 miles (265 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, early on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles (95 km) per hour, the NHC said. The storm was moving northwest at nearly 8 miles (13 km) per hour, and forecasters said they expected this motion to continue until it hits the coast. Cindy was projected to produce 6 to 9 inches (15-23 cm) of rain that could reach up to 12 inches in parts of Louisiana…
Oil Traders Brace for US Gulf Coast Storm
Oil traders from Texas to Louisiana braced on Tuesday for supply disruptions as Tropical Storm Cindy, formed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, threatened to hit refining and production centers with wind and rain later this week. Cindy was located about 265 miles (430 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 km) per hour. It is expected to approach the coast of southwest Louisiana late Wednesday or Wednesday night, and move inland over western Louisiana and eastern Texas on Thursday, the NHC said. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port…
Full Tanks & Tankers: A Stubborn Oil Glut Despite OPEC Cuts
After the first OPEC oil production cut in eight years took effect in January, oil traders from Houston to Singapore started emptying millions of barrels of crude from storage tanks. Investors hailed the drawdowns as the beginning of the end of a two-year supply glut - raising hopes for steadily rising per-barrel prices. It hasn't worked out that way. Now, many of those same storage tanks are filling back up or draining more slowly than investors and oil firms had expected, according to global inventory estimates and more than a dozen oil traders and shipping sources who told Reuters about storage in facilities that do not make their oil volumes public.
Ho-Ho Pipeline Slow to Start but Pickup Anticipated
Royal Dutch Shell's Houston-to-Houma pipeline meant to relieve bottlenecks in the country's oil hub has been plagued by mechanical issues that have led the line to run below capacity though traders said on Tuesday volumes are expected to increase. The most recent data from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources shows that the pipeline had a throughput of barely one-third of its capacity in each of the first four months of the year. The market expects volumes to more than double in coming months as a result of increased shipper access and resolution of the mechanical issues.
The Crowley Way
Walk in the front door at Crowley Maritime Corporation HQ in Jacksonville, Fla., and you learn nearly everything you need to know about the company. With your visitor’s badge, you are handed a “Safety and Evacuation” brochure, and the person you are there to meet – in our case Tom Crowley, Jr. – walks down to greet you personally. Safety and People; The Crowley Way. The rest is just details. Crowley Maritime was founded in 1892 by Thomas Crowley in San Francisco. Its fleet: A single Whitehall rowboat purchased for $80, used to ferry people and supplies from shore to ships anchored in the Bay.
