US record crude oil exports bite into Russia, Opec market share in Asia

Record crude oil volumes exported from the United States will be heading to Asia in the next couple of months to take another piece of the market away from Russia and producers in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

An oil pump is seen operating in the Permian Basin near Midland, Texas, US.

The United States is set to export 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, of which 1.3 million bpd will head to Asia, estimated a senior executive with a key US oil exporters.

Data from the Energy Information Administration shows U.S. oil exports peaked at 2.6 million bpd two weeks ago.

The record outbound volumes come as US crude production hit all-time highs, depressing US prices to discounts of more than $9 a barrel below Brent crude futures on Monday, the widest in more than three years and opening an arbitrage for excess supplies to other markets.

The difference in the key benchmarks was a chance for Asian refiners to reduce light crude imports from the Middle East and Russia after Brent and Gulf prices touched multi-year highs, traders in Asia said.

“We’re diversifying a lot to other regions. If Saudi Aramco still doesn’t reduce prices next month and ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) follows, we will increase our US crude purchases,” a Southeast Asian oil buyer said.

In Asia, China - led by Sinopec, the region’s largest refiner - is the biggest lifter of US crude. The company, after cutting Saudi imports, has bought a record 16 million barrels (533,000 bpd) of US crude, to load in June, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. India and South Korea are the next biggest buyers in Asia, each lifting 6 million to 7 million barrels in June, sources tracking US crude sales to Asia said.

Indian Oil bought 3 million barrels earlier this month via a tender, while Reliance Industries purchased up to 8 million barrels, the sources said, although it wasn’t clear if Reliance’s cargoes would all load in June.

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