路易斯安那州近海石油港原油出口激增

据海事新闻7月2日消息称，尽管美国原油出口因疫情影响全球燃料需求而下滑，但路易斯安那州近海石油港（LOOP）的原油出口创历史新高。

石油巨头荷兰壳牌石油公司和英国石油公司是LOOP原油出口增长的主要赢家，因为它们从该终端出口了大量中酸原油。

LOOP公司主要运输的是Mars原油，这是一种中酸级别的石油，产自Mars平台，该平台位于距离新奥尔良海岸130英里(210公里)的地方，是由壳牌和英国石油公司的合资企业。壳牌拒绝置评，而英国石油没有回应置评请求。

美国能源情报署的数据显示，加工Mars的美国墨西哥湾沿岸炼油厂将炼油量削减了20%以上。世界各地的炼油厂纷纷减产，以应对冠状病毒封锁导致的需求大幅下降。今年到目前为止，最大的消费市场美国的需求较去年下降了12%。

相反，那些Mars原油将流向亚洲，在亚洲，通常加工大量类似中东原油的炼油商需要取代自4月份开始的创纪录减产令欧佩克不再供应的石油。

能源市场数据公司Genscape的数据显示，截止6月26日，LOOP出口从2月的102209桶增至420345桶/天，为原来的四倍。Genscape表示，同期美国其他码头的原油出口量下降了21%，至每天231万桶。

曹海斌 摘译自 海事新闻

LOOP Crude Exports Surge Surprisingly

Crude exports from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) are hitting a record high even as U.S. crude exports have fallen as the coronavirus pandemic has chopped worldwide fuel demand.

Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are the main winners from rising LOOP exports, because they pump most of the mid-sour crude exported from the terminal.

LOOP largely ships out Mars crude, a medium-sour grade of oil produced from the Mars platform, a joint venture of majority-owner Shell and BP, located about 130 miles (210 km) off the coast of New Orleans. Shell declined comment, while BP did not respond to a request for comment.

Refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast that process Mars have cut refining runs by more than 20%, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Refineries worldwide have cut output to match the sharp fall in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns. Demand in top consumer the United States is down 12% so far this year versus last year.

Those Mars barrels are instead going to Asia, where refiners that normally process high volumes of similar Middle Eastern crude need to replace oil that OPEC is no longer supplying under record supply cuts that started in April.

LOOP exports quadrupled to 420,345 barrels per day (bpd) by June 26, the latest available date, from 102,209 bpd in February, according to data from energy markets data company Genscape. U.S. crude exports from other terminals declined 21% over the same period to 2.31 million bpd, Genscape said.