[ccpw id="5"]

Home.forex news reportPeru's niche Bretaña crude oil gains popularity in US

Peru’s niche Bretaña crude oil gains popularity in US

-


By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Peru’s niche Bretaña crude oil is gaining popularity in the United States, with the first cargo discharging in the U.S. Gulf Coast this month as U.S. refiners seek alternatives for declining Mexican heavy crude.

Bretaña, a rare heavy sweet crude with minimal metals, is produced in the Peruvian side of the Amazon rainforest. It is then barged along the Amazon river and loaded onto larger ships that depart from Brazil.

The vessel Radiant Pride transported about 300,000 barrels of Bretaña from Manaus, on the banks of the Negro river in Brazil, and discharged on Jan. 2 in Houston, ship tracking data from Kpler and LSEG showed.

The cargo was bought by oil major Shell, a source said. Shell declined to comment.

“Given the drop in heavy sour crude from Mexico to the U.S. Gulf Coast over the last year, we are starting to see new heavy grades being pulled in to backfill this loss – this is a trend we only expect to continue,” said Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler.

U.S. imports from Mexico fell to their lowest on record in 2024 as the Latin American country’s oil production fell and a larger portion of output remained at home to be refined.

Two cargoes of Peru’s Bretaña, a relatively new entrant into the market since production began in 2018, discharged at the U.S. West Coast last year – one at Marathon Petroleum and another at PBF Energy terminals, the Kpler data showed.

Marathon Petroleum declined to comment. PBF Energy did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

PetroTal Corp, the producer of Block 95 where the Bretaña oilfield is located, bought the assets from Canadian producer Gran Tierra Energy in 2017, and currently produces about 20,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Chief Executive Officer Manuel Zúñiga.

Challenges with transporting the crude via a pipeline operated by Peru’s state oil firm Petroperu led to a brief halt in exports between 2022 and 2024, Zúñiga said.

Petroperu has struggled in recent years to keep the line operational amid spills and social conflict interrupting its flow.

Three cargoes of Bretaña headed to the U.S. West Coast and one to the U.S. East Coast between 2020 and 2022, Kpler data showed.

About 90% of the Bretaña crude produced by PetroTal is exported, and the remaining is transported by barges to Petroperu’s refinery in Iquitos, Zúñiga said.

PetroTal has a contract with Houston-based Novum Energy under which Novum buys the crude for export and arranges its transportation, Zúñiga added.

Novum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

LATEST POSTS

BOE's Bailey: We are in a period of heightened uncertainty

The wording of "careful" was chosen to highlight this increased uncertaintyWe are facing a weak growth environment in the UKThe panel discussion carries the...

FTX Begins Payouts to Creditors Under $50K: Recovery Could Reach $16B

FTX has started repaying creditors today (Tuesday), beginning with those in the “Convenience Class.” This group includes creditors with claims of $50,000 or less.These individuals will...

It’s getting so bad on the sell-side, even BAT pays for its own research

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Depending on who you talk to,...

Follow us

0FansLike
0FollowersFollow
0SubscribersSubscribe

Most Popular

spot_img