US Refiners Expect No Change In Saudi Crude Shipments

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports to the U.S. are expected to hold steady for the next few months, traders at companies with Saudi contracts said Friday.

They said high inventories and a decision earlier this week by state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (SOI.YY), or Aramco, to boost contract prices to their highest levels in nearly a year has kept refiners from asking for more crude.

Traders at two companies refining Saudi oil in the U.S. said they had asked Aramco to trim slightly their September volumes. These companies buy Saudi oil on a delivered basis – either ex-ship in the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port or from the Statia oil storage facility in the Caribbean – and are currently negotiating September volumes which must be produced in July and early August to allow for the 40-day tanker voyage to the U.S. Gulf.
DowJones via iWon