LOOP seeks crude export customers

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) is seeking shippers who want to export crude on very large crude carriers (VLCC) from its existing facilities — a service which could start as soon as 2018.

The new services would include connecting logistics from LOOP's hub in Clovelly, Louisiana, to its deepwater port, 17 miles (27km) offshore from Port Fourchon.

LOOP would use the existing configuration of the port with minor modifications to operate bi-directionally. LOOP's deepwater port currently has the capacity to offload the same marine vessels and move crude from the port to the Clovelly hub.

The proposed marine vessel loading services could be available by early 2018.

LOOP has safely offloaded more than 10bn bl of crude since 1981, said president Tom Shaw. "Today, customers are seeking the optionality to safely and efficiently load or offload, which is a natural request for a port," he said.

LOOP is the only port in the US capable of offloading deep draft tankers such as VLCC and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC), but has shifted focus in recent years as the once-steady import business dwindled amid a sharp rise in US domestic production. LOOP now transits and stores significant amounts of domestically produced crude.

The proposed shift to exports comes amid rising interest in moving US crude to global markets.

Since the administration of US President Barack Obama lifted 40-year old restrictions on most oil exports in December 2015 US oil, primarily light crude, has been exported to countries around the globe.

US crude exports averaged 1.02mn b/d in May, nearly even with the 1mn b/d exported in April, according to the most recent trade data from the US Census Bureau.

LOOP is owned by Marathon, Valero and Shell Oil. LOOP's Clovelly hub onshore is the pricing point for deepwater crudes Mars and Thunder Horse.