HOUSTON, May 19 (Reuters) – A shipment of US oil is on its way to its next destination. South Africa The incident, the first in two years, was directed to a Glencore-owned refinery in Cape Town, which was shut down in 2020 by an explosion but has resumed operations, according to vessel tracking data and sources. It is said that
US-grade competitive pricing and post-coronavirus resumption of China’s economic activity have stimulated global oil demand, pushing US oil exports to a record high of 4.5 million barrels per day this year.
Vessel tracking information from Refinitiv Akon and energy data provider Kpler shows that the light sweet oil tanker Sonangol Porto Amboim departed Corpus Christi, Texas, on May 16 to head to Saldanha Bay on the west coast of South Africa. turned to
South Africa sources most of its oil from West and Central Africa and Saudi Arabia, according to Kpler data.However, competitive pricing of US crude and changes in oil flows since then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine opened up new markets. The last shipment of US crude was sent to South Africa in May 2021, according to US customs data.
The 850,000-bbl cargo of West Texas Light was purchased by Swiss commodities trader Glencore GLEN.L, the people said.
Glencore’s majority shareholder Astron Energy has resumed production at its Cape Town refinery at 100,000 barrels per day nearly three years after a deadly explosion shut down operations and killed two workers. .
Glencore declined to comment on shipments. Astron has confirmed that its refineries are restarting and producing at planned capacity as part of a phased process.
Astron, which has the second largest retail fuel network in southern Africa, receives crude oil from tankers offloading in the Gulf of Saldanha and transports it via pipeline to its Cape Town refinery, according to its website.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar from Houston; additional reporting by Wendell Roelf from Cape Town; editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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