Key insights
- First time US SPR oil was shipped to California due to Iran war disrupting Middle Eastern crude supplies. Chevron was involved in the transaction. This reflects changing trade flows and shipping routes. Limited bullish impact as SPR release is a known factor and the volume is relatively small.
Investing.com -- A cargo of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was delivered to California this month for the first time, according to ship tracking service Kpler.
The shipment reflects changing trade flows and shipping routes after the Iran war disrupted Middle Eastern crude supplies. California imported approximately 230,000 barrels per day from the Middle East last year, with alternative crude sources limited by competing demand from Asia.
The supertanker unloaded the strategic petroleum reserve crude to two smaller ships that delivered the cargoes to the refineries in California, Kpler said.
Approximately 460,000 barrels of Bayou Choctaw Sweet crude were sent to Chevron’s (NYSE:CVX) Richmond refinery in California, while another 50,000 barrels of the same grade were delivered to Chevron’s El Segundo refinery, Kpler said, citing bills of lading.
Tanker Red Moon loaded nearly 980,000 barrels of Bayou Choctaw Sweet in Louisiana and discharged the cargo at the Atlantic Terminal on the east coast of Panama in early May, according to Kpler. Chevron was listed as the seller of the cargo.
A 131 km pipeline transports crude oil from the east coast to the Pacific Terminal on the west coast of Panama.
Supertanker Pascagoula Voyager, chartered by Chevron, loaded about 2 million barrels of crude at the Pacific Terminal and traveled to the U.S. West Coast, the ship tracking service said. The vessel was co-loaded with Guyana’s Unity Gold crude oil.
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