- Shell charters LOOP’s 2nd direct-to-VLCC US crude export cargo.
- VLCC Nave Photon, is in the Gulf of Mexico, as of 27th March, Tuesday.
- It arrived at the LOOP waters on March 15 and departed on 18th March.
- It took 10 days to charter the US Gulf Coast, slightly more time than the first VLCC.
- LOOP reduces the export cost as it doesn’t require supramax and afframax’s reverse lightening technology.
On Tuesday, 27th March, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port’s second direct-to-VLCC crude export cargo was successfully loaded, says a report in the platts. Laden with the Gulf of Mexico medium sour grade Mars and chartered by Shell,the VLCC Nave Photon was able to export VLCC out of the LOOP.
Details of the charter
S&P Global Platts vessel-tracking software cFlow showed the Nave Photon in the US Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, southeast of LOOP’s offshore mooring stations. Data showed the tanker arrived in LOOP waters, on March 15 and departed on Sunday. That 10-day time frame is slightly longer than the length of time it took for the first direct-to-VLCC export of crude in the US Gulf Coast. In mid-February, Shell loaded the continental US’ first direct-to-VLCC export of US crude. Shell loaded Mars onto the VLCC Shaden, with Unipec reportedly looking to take the crude itself into China. The Shaden arrived at LOOP on February 11 and sailed on February 18. Platts cFlow on Tuesday showed that the Shaden is in the Indian Ocean with an estimated arrival at Rizhao, China, on April 12.
Importance of LOOP
LOOP is currently the only US Gulf Coast export facility that does not require Aframax or Suezmax vessels for reverse lightering onto a VLCC. If, for example, an exporter uses an Aframax at a daily rate of about $300,000 $340,000, that could add as much as 60-68 cents/b to the export cost, depending on how much crude is loaded onto the VLCC, a ship that typically holds around 2 million barrels.
Thus, LOOP is the most feasible way of exporting crude cargo around the US Gulf Coast without causing much of an expenditure.
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Source: Platts
