Record number of supertankers loading at Louisiana export port -sources

By Collin Eaton
HOUSTON, June 3 (Reuters) - Medium-sour crudes from the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico are being snapped up by overseas buyers, paving
way for a record six supertankers to load at the Louisiana
Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in a matter of weeks, according to
people familiar with the matter.
The six scheduled loadings in late May and early June would
double the record of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) reached
in December. An unusual influx of Gulf of Mexico crudes to the
U.S. deepwater export port and weakening prices are contributing
to the exports, according to one of the people close to the
matter.
Mars Sour, a Gulf of Mexico crude produced by Royal Dutch
Shell Plc RDSa.L , traded at a $4.40 a barrel premium to U.S.
crude futures on Monday, falling from its 2019 peak of around
$8.10 premium in mid-February.
Following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, and
production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries, U.S. medium-sour grades including Mars are helping
fill Asian oil buyers' needs for new sources of supply.
"We've seen very good global demand for medium and heavy
sour crude oil," said James Chrystal, an oil trader at Mercuria
Energy Group.
New Prime, chartered by Shell, began loading crude at LOOP
on Monday, following two departures since Friday of supertankers
chartered by China's Unipec and Mercuria, according to trade
sources and data from Refinitiv Eikon and vessel-tracking
service Kpler.
Shell and Unipec did not immediately respond to requests for
comment. Mercuria declined to comment on specific sales or cargo
movement.
Coswisdom Lake, a tanker chartered by Unipec according to
trade sources and Refinitiv, left last week with almost 2
million barrels for Shuidong port in China. Captain X. Kyriakou,
chartered by Mercuria, also nearly fully loaded, departed for an
unknown destination in Asia on Monday, the data showed.
Three other supertankers, are expected to load at LOOP
through the middle of June, the person familiar with the matter
said.
In recent weeks, more crude produced in the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico has been piped to LOOP for loading onto vessels instead
of to domestic refiners, trade sources said.
In May, U.S. refiners imported a larger amount of medium
sour crude from Iraq, Nigeria, Brazil and Angola, lowering U.S.
demand and prices for Mars crude. Lower prices spurred increased
overseas purchases, trade sources said.