Daily Energy Blog

In the U.S., crude oil trading hubs like Houston, Midland and Cushing get the lion’s share of the market’s attention. But travel a bit further north and you can find one of the more unusual and liquid crude markets in the country — Guernsey, WY — a focal point for producers in Western Canada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Over the last few months, Guernsey differentials have tightened significantly, finally flipping to a premium to Cushing. We have seen this phenomenon occur before, most notably seven years ago after the startup of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the recent movement in Guernsey differentials and what the future could hold for the often-overlooked sales point. 

The original Cactus Pipeline was a pioneer in moving large volumes of crude oil from the Permian and the Eagle Ford to the Corpus Christi area, which quickly became a leader in U.S. crude exports. Cactus II, an even longer and larger pipeline that came online in H2 2019, only added to Corpus Christi’s export prominence. But the competition with Permian-to-Houston pipelines is fiercer than ever and negotiated rates on pipelines to the Texas Gulf Coast are under pressure. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the Cactus I and Cactus II pipelines and their significance. 

A few months ago, Enbridge unveiled its plans to expand its massive Mainline and smaller Express/Platte crude oil pipeline systems into the U.S. Midwest/Great Plains. We blogged about those plans, and followed up with a look at how the incremental volumes of Western Canadian crude on the Mainline and Express/Platte might move south from PADD 2 to where they’re wanted most: the Gulf Coast. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss efforts to piece together a more direct pipeline route from Alberta to Cushing and on to the Texas/Louisiana coast.