Fairplay: Alaska Oil Bypass Begins

“Poten & Partners has released an analysis of rapidly evolving foreign imports to the US West Coast to put the domestic pipeline disruption in context. The most significant development is a ‘marked increase in US importation of Russian Espo Crude from Kozmino’, which is ‘mirrored by a decrease in the Middle East trade involving Saudi Arabian and Iraqi crude’. Poten added that USWC refineries have also upped cargoes from Vancouver. The sourcing changes have significantly altered the tanker mix. VLCC cargoes to the USWC slumped to 29% of the overall market last year versus 44% in 2009. Aframaxes saw the greatest gain, jumping from 9% to 19%. Poten said the ‘shocking’ 100% year-on-year increase in Aframax fixtures to the USWC ‘undoubtedly displaced the traditional VLCC business originating in the Arabian Gulf’.”