September Lat Am crude imports fall on lower Venezuelan shipments: In the LOOP

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port has seen a month-on-month drop in heavy Latin American crude imports, impacted by high regional prices and falling Venezuelan crude production.

Month on month, LOOP has imported about 355,740 fewer barrels so far in September than it did in August, according to data from Platts Analytics and US customs. The 3.089 million barrels imported into LOOP during September include Mexican, Brazilian, Colombian and Venezuelan heavy sour grades.

Declining crude production in Venezuela has tightened barrels available for sale on both a contract and spot basis. Available export supply has been further tightened by Venezuela's increasing repayments of loans from Russia and China in the form of crude oil. In September, LOOP imported only one 655,000-barrel cargo of Venezuelan Morichal crude, a month-on-month decrease of about 840,000 barrels, with LOOP having imported 998,000 barrels of Zuata crude and 497,000 barrels of DCO crude in August.

In contrast, Brazilian imports into LOOP increased by about 504,000 barrels month on month. In September, LOOP imported one cargo of 964,000 barrels of heavy sour Jubarte crude from Brazil, compared with one cargo of 460,000 barrels of heavy sweet Roncador in August.

Meanwhile, imports into LOOP of heavy sour Colombian Vasconia crude held steady month on month, with September imports only 16,000 barrels higher than August at 964,000 total barrels.

In the first four months of 2017, LOOP did not import any cargoes of Vasconia due to the sour crude's high price on limited production. With several leftist bomb attacks intermittently shutting down Ecopetrol's Cano Limon pipeline, takeaway capacity of produced volumes was limited.

In May, LOOP took in only one 500,000-barrel cargo of Vasconia, before imports once again ceased in June and July. As the assessed value of comparable domestic crude Mars has increased, imports into the US Gulf Coast of Vasconia have resumed. With a 10-day moving average outright value of $51.83/b, Vasconia's value has moved closer to the 10-day moving average outright value of Mars, currently at $51.43/b.

Imports into LOOP of Mexican Maya crude, a heavy sour grade, fell 36,000 barrels month on month to 474,000 barrels imported so far in September. Marathon Petroleum imported both August and September barrels of Maya into LOOP.

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.