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Page added on October 11, 2012
Sweet oil flows to U.S. will dry up by 2014
U.S. imports of light, sweet crude oil – mostly West African – will fall to virtually zero by 2014 as rising domestic shale oil production and refinery closures sap demand, according to an executive of Total’s trading arm.
New U.S. shale provinces are now pumping more than a million barrels per day (bpd)and the hydrocarbons produced are similar to top quality grades produced in Africa, such as Nigerian benchmark grade Bonny Light.
“We see light sweet imports maintaining their steady pace of decline of 400,000 barrels per day per year so by 2014 they will be very, very low levels,” said Thomas Waymel, senior vice-president of crude supply and trading at a conference organised by Oil Price Reporting Agency Argus in Geneva.
U.S. imports of light, sweet – or low sulphur content – oil are mostly sourced from West Africa, although cargoes are occasionally sent from the North Sea or from Libya.
Traders said that around 800,000 barrels per day is currently sent from West Africa to the United States, although this is far below peak levels. One trader said that exports flows to the United States were more than double the current level in 2010.
The surplus volumes of light, sweet oil in Africa and Europe will likely be diverted to Asian buyers, Waymel said.
Imports of West African crude oil by Asian refiners and end-users reached 1.69 million barrels per day this month, up 10 percent from September and at a record high for October.
5 Comments on "Sweet oil flows to U.S. will dry up by 2014"
BillT on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 1:02 am
In a capitalist world, oil goes to the highest bidders. Asia has the cash to buy it at any price. They can make a gallon of gas do multiples of what Westerners use it for. They have 15 in a vehicle going somewhere necessary. The Us may have 1 or 2 in a huge SUV going nowhere important. Here in the Philippines where gas has been over $5 per gallon for years and the wages are a small fraction of those in the West, oil is used very conservatively.
DC on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 2:00 am
Q/ The Us may have 1 or 2 in a huge SUV going nowhere important.
That is a great line, and all too true isnt it? Its one of the root reasons we have an ‘energy’ crisis. Most people drive, for two reasons really. One, because they are forced to, by shoddy urban design and lack of ANY alternatives. Second,a lot of people also drive, because…well…just because. They are bored, need distracting, whatever.
Lala on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 3:01 am
BillT: in most major asian cities the traffic is just as bad as you find anywhere in the west, and there are millions of asians especially in china and japan who are driving big cars and SUVs with just one or two people in each car.
BillT on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 12:42 pm
But Lala … there are 3+ billion people in Asia and only 1/10th that many in the Us but the Us has more cars than those 3 billion combined and drives far more unnecessary miles in them.
For China to have as many cars per person as the Us, they would need 800 million to start. Throw in another 900 million cars needed in India and a few hundred more million in the other Asian countries and what do you have. No oil by 2020.
American’s will probably be walking by then anyway as they will not be able to afford a personal vehicle unless it is a bicycle.
Pops on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 3:48 pm
The Gulf Coast refineries have been switching to heavy and sour crude refining for years, do you think it’s maybe because they understand that sweet light is on the way out?
Naw, it’s fracking…