Data from RBN’s weekly Crude Voyager report shows that the U.S. Gulf Coast crude terminals collectively loaded 4.1 MMb/d of oil for export in the week ended December 22. All regions except Beaumont, where loadings rose by 421 Mb/d to 514 Mb/d, loaded fewer cargoes than in the previous week. While weekly volumes were down 207 Mb/d from the previous week, overall levels continued to be robust at over 4 MMb/d. Higher loadings were noted over the last few weeks as several traders leaned toward moving their stocks onto seaborne tankers to avoid the end-of-the-year tax on inventories in Texas and Louisiana.
Hectic loading activity was noted across the Gulf Coast as 34 tankers, including eight VLCCs, received cargoes directly at terminals last week. More than one-third of all shipments (34%) loaded last week were hauled on VLCCs, reiterating the significance of supertanker-class vessels and their ability to load more cargoes directly at terminals with each passing year.
