NuStar Corpus Christi crude volumes double

NuStar Energy moved about 422,000 b/d of crude to its docks in Corpus Christi, Texas, last month, as volumes have soared with new pipeline connections.

The company's overall crude volumes in Corpus Christi averaged 591,000 b/d in October, double the receipts from July, NuStar said today while reporting third quarter earnings.

The increase in crude volumes followed the completion of two connections to the 670,000 b/d Cactus 2 crude pipeline which carries Permian crude to Corpus Christi, including an 8-mile, 30-inch pipeline from Taft, Texas, to NuStar's North Beach terminal.

Corpus Christi has become an increasingly important port for exports of US crude, with several midstream companies adding pipelines that terminate there, including Plains All American Pipelines' Cactus 2 which went into service in August.

Domestic crude exports have been rising sharply this year on booming production. Overall US crude exports averaged above 3mn b/d in September, near a record high, according to Census Bureau trade data released today.

NuStar's crude volumes in the Permian basin in west Texas averaged 416,000 b/d in October, up by 233pc since the company bought the assets in 2017, gaining an entry into the Permian with crude transportation, gathering and storage.

NuStar this year expanded capacity on the Permian system by 100,000 b/d to 560,000 b/d and added 34 well connections.

The company is not expecting Permian production to slow despite recent declines in the US rig count, chief executive Brad Barron said. "We have not seen any evidence of that in our system."

NuStar expects Permian volumes to rise to 450,000 b/d by the end of the year.

NuStar in July closed on its sale of the 13mn bl St Eustatius crude and refined products terminal in the Caribbean to private equity group Prostar Capital.