US to become major crude oil exporter, says PIRA

Regions along the US Gulf Coast will play an increasing role as oil exporters to global markets and will rank among the world’s largest exporters, a new report from PIRA Energy, an analytics and forecasting unit of S&P Global Platts, showed.

US crude oil exports are expected to rise to 2.25 million barrel per day (bbl) by 2020, a fourfold increase when compared to 2016.

“This growth will be driven primarily by rising light sweet crude supplies from shale production,” Jenna Delaney, senior analyst at PIRA, said.

Accordingly, the US will be positioned to become one of the ten largest exporters of crude oil worldwide.

This shift in trade flows requires significant redevelopment of infrastructure along the Gulf Coast to accommodate exports and the work is being done, Delaney added.

From among the four major regions along the Gulf Coast, Corpus Christi is well placed to become an increasingly prominent area for US exports once they ease logistical constraints and provide access to Permian supplies.

Public and private infrastructure projects will also allow for greater export scale in the next few years, the report added.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has the greatest potential among all terminals in the U.S. to offer economic scale, Delaney added.

Operational capacity for crude oil and condensate exports on the Gulf Coast are forecast to increase by at least 600 million bbl by the end of next year, from current 2.7 million bbl.