(September 9, 2014 – Fuel Fix) Gulf Coast drives surge in U.S. exports of petroleum products (By: Rhiannon Meyers)
The Gulf Coast is driving a surge in U.S. exports of petroleum products as refineries run at near-record levels, according to recent reports.
In June, the United States on average exported 3.7 million barrels per day of gasoline, distillate, jet fuel, petroleum coke and hydrocarbon gas liquids, according to the most recent data available. That’s an increase of 17 percent, or 543,000 barrels per day, from the same time last year, the Energy Information Administration said in a newly released analysis.
Nearly three-quarters of that growth came from the Gulf Coast, where refineries remain “extremely competitive” against their global counterparts because of the region’s access to lower-cost crude oil and fuel, the administration reported.
“Refiners are in the catbird seat,” said Sandy Fielden, managing director of Houston-based energy analysts RBN Energy. “They are running their refineries as fast as their little legs can run.”
Crude oil production in the six-state region that includes the Gulf Coast has spiked 57 percent to 5.2 million barrels per day in three years thanks to two of the nation’s biggest shale basins — the Eagle Ford in South Texas and the Permian in West Texas and New Mexico, according to a recent report by Fielden.
“The fact is that unless an alternative release valve such as a relaxation of export regulations or increase in refinery processing capacity comes along, Gulf Coast crude production is on a crash course to exceed refinery capacity to process it,” Fielden wrote in a report released Sunday.
The influx of new oil has reduced the region’s dependence on foreign light crude, Fielden reported. Imports dwindled from 1.9 million barrels per day three years ago to 400,000 barrels per day in June, according to his report.
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