LatAm now a leading US crude oil destination

Latin America has emerged as a primary destination for US crude oil exports in 2016, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday.

Prior to last December, when a bill lifting restrictions on US crude oil exports was approved, nearly all of those shipments went to Canada.

But non-Canada exports exceeded exports to Canada during two of the first five months of 2016, EIA said in a statement.

Crude exports to the island nation of Curaçao, where Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA operates the 330,000b/d Isla refinery, averaged 54,000b/d from January-May, more than any other non-Canada country during the span.

"Trade press reports indicate that US crude oil exports to Curaçao are likely being used as diluent, where a light (less dense) US crude oil is blended with a heavy Venezuelan crude oil, for either processing at the Isla refinery or for re-export to PDVSA customers," EIA said.

Exports to the Bahama averaged 10,000b/d, followed in Latin America by Panama (5,000b/d), Nicaragua (5,000b/d), Colombia (3,000b/d) and Peru (2,000b/d).

Total US crude exports averaged 501,000b/d from January-May, up 9% on the full-year 2015 average. The US exported crude oil to 16 countries during the five-month period.

"Continued increases in US crude oil exports will likely depend on increases in US crude oil production and significantly wider price differences between domestic and international crude oils, neither of which are projected in EIA's August Short-Term Energy Outlook," the statement said.

The EIA statement follows the March arrival in Brazil of the first-ever LNG cargo exported from the US.