Only one Iraqi crude cargo imported in H1 March: In the LOOP

One 525,000-barrel cargo of Iraqi Basrah Light crude was imported into the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port over the past week, taking the number of cargoes imported to the terminal in the first half of March to just two totalling 1.032 million barrels, as regional refinery turnarounds continue to push demand lower.

One 497,000-barrel cargo of Mexican heavy sour crude Maya was imported on March 6 at Morgan City, Louisiana, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics and US Customs data.

This compares with a total of 2.527 million barrels in the first half of February, when six Basrah Light cargoes and one Maya cargo were imported.

Imports of Iraqi crude to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port for the first half of March have fallen nearly 74% month on month.

Marathon was listed as the consignee of the Basrah Light crude, which has an average gravity of 30.92 API and typical sulfur content of 2.72%.

Overall imports of Basrah Light crude to the US Gulf Coast are also down month on month. For the first 15 days of March, regional buyers took in 1.847 million barrels of the Iraqi grade, versus 3.029 million barrels for the comparable period in February.

Demand for imported and domestic sour grades continues to move lower due to ongoing spring maintenance at 15 regional refineries with a combined capacity of 4.129 million b/d.

Additionally, most USGC refineries have completed buying for April volumes, contributing to lower demand, according to a market source.

A narrow Dubai/WTI swap spread continues to disincentivize shipments of Middle Eastern sour crude barrels to the USGC. Although second-month Dubai's premium over WTI has widened $1.06/b to 61 cents/b since the start of March, the spread has narrowed $2.41/b since the start of the year.

As Dubai's premium to WTI decreases, Dubai-based Middle Eastern grades become less competitive with comparable WTI-based sour grades in the USGC.

The 'In the LOOP' Americas crude oil wrap runs each Monday in Crude Oil Marketwire, North American Crude and Products Scan and on the Platts Global Alert. You can read the FAQ: USGC LOOP Sour crude here and find the full special report LOOP Sour Crude: A benchmark for the future here. Also be sure to download our LOOP app(opens in a new tab) by searching for 'Platts LOOP' in your app store.