Posted on April 10, 2018
By Chris Ramirez, Caller Times
The latest in a growing string of Suezmax tankers fully loaded with crude oil left the Port of Corpus Christi this week.
Buckeye Partners and Trafigura on Friday announced their first shipment of crude oil by Suezmax tanker from the port’s Buckeye Texas Hub terminal.
The companies released an image of the vessel, named the Mt Astra, sailing underneath the Harbor Bridge, which has a shallow 138-foot clearance.
It is unclear where the shipment was headed.
Modifications were made recently at the terminal, allowing Suezmax-class vessels to berth there. The 890-foot Mt Astra was loaded on March 31, a Buckeye statement said.
“North American supplies have launched the U.S. onto the world stage as a new crude provider,” said Corey Prologo, head of oil trading and director for Trafigura North America. “Upgrading the terminal’s deep-water docks at Corpus Christi will help us to meet the growing demand for this product from European refineries and Far East refineries and petrochemical plants.”
Buckeye Partners, a midstream oil firm based in Houston, owns 80 percent of the terminal. Trafigura, a commodities trader, is one of the largest exporters of crude. It owns 20 percent.
The Buckeye Terminal has about 7 million barrels of storage capacity for liquid petroleum products and pipeline connectivity for receiving crude oil and condensate production from the Permian and Eagle Ford shale plays.
It’s also big enough to accommodate Suezmax class tankers, and two 25,000-barrels-per-day condensate splitters.
Company officials say that will allow Trafigura to better market crude and products to customers in the Caribbean, Latin America and even China.
Supramax and handymax vessels, which are capable of carrying up to 60,000 tons and 35,000 tons of cargo, respectively, are commonly at the Port of Corpus Christi, the nation’s fourth largest based on tonnage.
Bigger capsize- and Panamax-class ships are visiting more often, though they berth at the port ‘s bulk terminal.
Larger Suezmax- and Aframax-class vessels are also seen in the port more regularly. That’s been especially true following the expansion of the Panama Canal and the 2015 repeal of a decades-long ban of crude exports.
A French cargo ship called the Anne set records when it made berth in May at the Oxy Ingleside Energy Center export terminal.
That 1,100-foot-long vessel’s visit was a milestone for the region because it’s believed to have been the largest vessel to have ever called on a port in the Gulf of Mexico.
Its helped port officials test the envelope on whether the port is prepared to handle such big ships.
Source: Caller Times
