LOOP reports 145,000 barrels of sour crude deliveries for November

More than 145,000 barrels of sour crude oil was delivered from the Louisiana Offshore Oilport Sour Storage facility in November, up from the 35,000 barrels in October, LOOP reported Dec. 1.

LOOP sour crude deliveries have averaged 500,000 barrels so far in 2020 but have fluctuated as oil demand dropped amid the pandemic.

Deliveries of the grade, which consists of a blend of Poseidon, Mars and Basrah, Kuwaiti and Arab Medium crudes, hit zero for the first time on record in April and were again reported at zero in June.

As Gulf Coast refinery utilization has begun to recover, however, deliveries have increased

Stronger demand and tighter supply of sour barrels along the US Gulf Coast has supported values for US sour grades during much of the third quarter, and demand for sour barrels continues to be strong in the fourth quarter. The Platts assessment of front-month LOOP sour crude averaged about a 3 cents/b premium to the NYMEX light sweet crude futures contract.

The average API gravity for LOOP Sour in November was 28.3 degrees, heavier than October's average of 30.01 degrees; and sulfur content averaged 2.3%, sourer than October's 1.85%, LOOP reported.

LOOP auction

LOOP and Matrix Markets offered up for auction 7,800 of its capacity allocation contracts during its monthly crude storage auction Dec. 1. The auction collectively equaled 7.8 million barrels of storage for the medium crude blend.

Of those offered, Matrix sold 5,100 of its LOOP Capacity Allocation Contracts during the auction. There were 5,100 Physical Forward Agreements sold, priced from 5 cents/b to 10 cents/b from February 2021 through Q1 2022. The storage futures contracts give owners the right, but not the obligation, to store 1,000 barrels of crude oil per contract at LOOP's Clovelly Hub for a specific calendar month.