Page 12 - NorthAmOil Week 23

NorthAmOil PERFORMANCE NorthAmOil

US-Canada energy trade

strong over past decade

NORTH AMERICA A recent report from the US Energy Informa- Canada after a peak in 2014.
tion Administration (EIA) illustrates how strong The US exported 459,000 bpd of crude to
energy trade between the US and Canada has Canada, which remained the largest destination
been in recent years. The agency said Canada for US oil exports despite the country easing
is the largest source of US energy imports, as export restrictions in 2015 and sending growing
well as being the second-largest destination for volumes to other countries.
US energy exports after Mexico. This includes The US typically sends light, sweet crude
crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and grades – such as those found in its shale forma-
electricity. tions – to Canada, which are sent to the eastern
Based on data from the US Census Bureau, part of the country. Canada, in turn, primarily
Crude shipments from the EIA said energy accounted for $85bn – or sends heavy crude from Alberta’s oil sands to
Canada by rail have 27% of the value – of all US imports from Can- the US – with this going to refineries either in
boomed in recent years. ada. Crude and petroleum products made up the Midwest or on the Gulf Coast. The US shale
91% of US energy imports from Canada and 89% boom over the past decade has dampened the
of US energy exports to Canada. US’ appetite for Canadian energy, but a market
Crude from Canada also accounted for 56% for crude from the oil sands remains because
of all US crude imports in 2019, averaging 3.8mn most US refineries are configured to process
barrels per day (bpd). This was an increase from heavy crude grades.
3.7mn bpd the previous year. The EIA noted that crude shipments from
Meanwhile, the US exported $23bn worth of Canada by rail had also boomed, more than tri-
energy to Canada in 2019, which accounted for pling from an average of 91,000 bpd in 2016 to
around 8% of total US exports to Canada. This 300,000 bpd in 2019. Around 171,000 bpd of this
was the second-highest value of US exports to went to the Gulf Coast region in 2019.™

Gulf producers resume

activity after storm

GULF OF MEXICO PRODUCTION is resuming this week in the US Coast, meanwhile, were not reported to have
Gulf of Mexico after Tropical Storm Cristobal suffered any significant disruptions because of
passed through the region, briefly disrupting oil the storm.
and gas operations and making landfall in Lou- On June 10, the US Bureau of Safety and
isiana on June 7. Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported
Federal data showed that offshore produc- that staff remained evacuated from 61 Gulf plat-
ers had evacuated 188 Gulf facilities, and shut forms, representing around 9.5% of the manned
in 635,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and platforms in the region. Workers were reported
878mn cubic feet (25mn cubic metres) per day to have returned to all drilling rigs operating in
of natural gas – around a third of the region’s the Gulf. Roughly 23.6% of Gulf oil production
production. and 22.8% of gas output remained shut in as of
Producers shutting in some of their output June 10.
included BP, which reduced production at its The Gulf was producing nearly 2mn bpd
Thunder Horse, Atlantis and Na Kika platforms. of oil at the start of this year, but the figure has
Another super-major, Royal Dutch Shell, said on declined somewhat in recent months, after oil
June 8 that its production had been unaffected prices collapsed and the coronavirus (COVID-
by the storm, but that it would resume drilling 19) was declared to be a pandemic in March.
activity and redeploy non-essential workers that The BSEE was estimating Gulf output at around
had been evacuated from the region. 1.85mn bpd before Cristobal passed through the
Other companies saying on June 8 that they region.
were beginning to return workers to offshore Production is forecast to fall further still as
facilities included Occidental Petroleum and some producers in the region reduce their out-
Murphy Oil. Downstream facilities on the Gulf put in response to lower crude prices.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 11•June•2020