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.
Guernsey doesn’t often get the publicity that some other trading areas receive, but as the primary Rockies crude oil trading hub it deserves more attention. Guernsey has a plethora of pipeline connectivity and oil tankage that allows it to receive crude from Canada and the Bakken, as well as local Powder River Basin (PRB) production. All told, more than 300 Mb/d of Bakken production can reach the hub via Bridger Pipeline’s Belle Fourche (dark-purple line in Figure 1 below) and Butte systems (light-purple line), with another 280 Mb/d of Canadian production via Enbridge’s Express Pipeline (bright-pink line). Express dovetails with the Platte Pipeline (orange line) at Casper, WY, and then continues on through Guernsey.
Figure 1. Guernsey Crude Hub and Pipeline Connections. Source. RBN
Outbound, Guernsey can deliver directly to the benchmark hub and storage facilities at Cushing, OK; refining markets, including Patoka and Wood River in Illinois (the key hubs for PADD 2 refineries); and the not-so-distant refineries in Salt Lake City. Platte Pipeline can deliver 145 Mb/d to Patoka and Wood River. Pony Express (yellow line), the largest system out of Guernsey, can send 230 Mb/d of light, sweet crude and other grades to Cushing. Guernsey also has indirect connections to the Saddlehorn Pipeline (aqua line), which like Pony can move barrels to Cushing.
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