Reuters: California Faces Future of Rising Oil Imports

“While the rest of the United States tries to limit oil imports from afar, California appears to have no choice but to increase them. Demand at California’s refineries will pull crude from new locales as once-prolific output from within the state and Alaska declines and China boosts its demand for crude from suppliers like Ecuador and Canada. . . . Tanker consultants Poten & Partners Inc have said the Panama pipeline reversal could cut travel times for Angolan crude to California by seven days. From the Middle East, voyage time is 10 days longer but the greater chance of a return cargo from the Atlantic side of the Western Hemisphere greatly improves voyage economics, Poten & Partners said.”