LOOP Sour becomes heavier, more sour: In the LOOP

The US crude blend LOOP Sour was heavier and more sour in October, despite a month-on-month decrease in heavy sour imports of Iraqi and Kuwaiti crude grades.

The oil terminal allocates one of its eight underground caverns to a medium sour blend comprised of US Gulf of Mexico grades Mars and Poseidon and  a blend of Middle East crudes called Segregation 17, which is comprised of  Arab Medium, Basrah Light and Kuwait Export Crude.

The LOOP Sour blend in  October had an average API gravity of 29.50 degrees and sulfur content of 2.34%. Its minimum-maximum API gravity range was 28.8-30.4 degrees, while sulfur ranged from 1.7% to 3%.

API and sulfur are two of many characteristics refiners look at when deciding which crudes to run in order to maximize or minimize production of particular refined products. Other factors include acidity, metals content, presence of asphaltenes and ultimately a distillation curve.

More than 1.775 million barrels were delivered ex-cavern in the month, up 525,000 barrels from September and 925,000 barrels from August.

LOOP auctions storage in the cavern through monthly capacity allocation contracts, or CACs, sold during an auction. Each CAC gives the owner the right, but not the obligation, to store 1,000 barrels of LOOP Sour in the cavern during the contract month.

The cavern holds roughly 7.5 million barrels.

LOOP offers up 7.2 million barrels of that amount monthly. LOOP received 6.628 million barrels of crude in October, down 4.616 million barrels from September, according to data from Platts Analytics and the US Customs office.

About 3.516 million barrels consisted of Iraqi Basrah Light crude, down 594,000 barrels from September. LOOP did not appear to import any volumes of Kuwaiti or Saudi Arabian crude for October, versus almost 994,000 barrels of Kuwaiti crude and 575,000 barrels of Saudi Arabian crude imported in September.

About 1.626 million barrels of imported crude for October came from Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, down 1.55 million barrels from September. It is important to note  that not all LOOP Sour-deliverable crudes that arrive at LOOP will be delivered into the LOOP Sour cavern.

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 by searching for 'Platts LOOP' in your app store.