Competition into the western US from the expansion of Trans Mountain's 890,000 b/d crude pipeline system in western Canada was not as severe as feared by Argentina producers.
There is "still a place" for Argentina's Medanito crude on the US west coast, Francisco Villamil, executive trading manager at upstream producer Vista, said at the Argus Global Crude Summit Americas in Houston.
Argentina producers were "pretty concerned" when the expansion went into service last May. At first, they felt price effects of the increased supply in the Pacific basin, but differentials stabilized and 50pc of TMX exports now go to Asia.
The TMX system connects producers in Alberta to the docks at Burnaby, adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, and its capacity roughly tripled when the 590,000 b/d Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) went into service. TMX has been a popular outlet for shippers, both for selling to US west coast refiners and also for producers looking to bypass the US altogether and target Asian countries.
Since the TMX expansion came on line, the US west coast has received about 159,000 b/d from Vancouver, or 48pc of total Vancouver crude exports, according to Vortexa. Most of the remaining Vancouver exports went to China.
Argentina averaged a record-breaking 717,100 b/d of crude production in 2024, the country's energy secretary reported.
