September sees rare crude imports at LOOP by Shell, Valero

Refiners Valero and Shell both imported foreign crude at the US' Louisiana Offshore Oil Port terminal this month, a rare move for the former in 2018 and an even less frequent move for Shell, according to US Customs and S&P Global Platts Analytics data.

Valero imported 1.448 million barrels of 29.8 API Basrah Light into LOOP on the tanker British Vantage on September 14, Valero's first crude import at the terminal since January.

Valero has imported just 2.463 million barrels of crude at LOOP in 2018 compared with 16.827 million barrels over the same period of time in 2017 and 20.571 million barrels in 2016, data showed.

Shell imported 958,000 barrels of 28.7 API Basrah Light on September 5 on the tanker Alexander the Great.

Neither British Vantage nor Alexander the Great appear to have been co-loaded with other grades or shared with other consignees.

Both Valero and Shell own a stake in LOOP. LOOP is owned by Marathon Petroleum (50.7%), Shell (46.1%) and Valero (3.2%). While Valero's drop-off in crude imports is notable, Shell's import is notable for its rarity. Shell has been the consignee on just four crude cargoes at LOOP since mid-2015, when Platts Analytics began tracking the US Customs data.

That is not surprising. Shell is the majority stakeholder in production of the US Gulf of Mexico medium sour Mars, which is produced offshore and delivered into two underground caverns at LOOP. Therefore, it tends to focus its efforts on that grade as well as its Zydeco Pipeline, which moves crude from Houston to Houma, Louisiana.

Marathon continues to be a major importer at LOOP, accounting for 64% of crude imports at LOOP so far in 2018.