The first cargo shipped on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) crude pipeline is scheduled to load on an Aframax in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning 18 May for June delivery in China, according to sources with knowledge of the transaction.
Suncor provisionally booked the Aframax Dubai Angel for a Vancouver-China voyage at $3.5mn lumpsum, equivalent to $6.39/bl for Access Western Blend, market participants said.
In March, China's state-run Sinochem purchased the first TMX cargo — 550,000 bl of Canadian Access Western Blend — for June delivery.
The shipping fixture would mark the first Vancouver-China crude delivery since May 2023, according to Vortexa, a possible indicator of steady Asia-Pacific demand to come with increased maritime access for Canadian oil producers.
China already receives heavy sour Canadian crude re-exported from the US Gulf coast, with about 110,000 b/d arriving in 2023, Vortexa data show.
The new 590,000 b/d pipeline begins commercial service on 1 May, with three Aframax-capable berths at Vancouver's Westridge Marine Terminal, up from one previously.
An oversupply of Aframax crude tankers on the west coast of the Americas in anticipation of TMX-driven demand pressured Vancouver-loading rates to six-month lows on 19 April, according to Argus data, but market participants expect demand to increase beginning in the second half of May.
Three regulatory approvals remained under assessment by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on 30 April. The applications concern piping, valves and other components at two pipeline inspection device traps and the mainline pipe between the two traps. The traps were added for safety assurance when the operator was allowed by CER to use a smaller diameter pipe as part of the Mountain 3 deviation.
