Brisk flow of oil barges along the Mississippi River to transport crude oil to a trickle this summer, inland and coastal price gap between the price disappear curbed. However, the barge market has almost lost a step.
Now, instead of excess crude oil moving North Dakota Oklahoma St. Louis, refineries and traders to re-deploy its flexible fleet of inland waterway ports to connect southern Texas Gulf of Mexico refineries, into cheap barrels Eagle Ford page rocks, officials said.
Load is small, shallow-draft harbor, southern Texas shale oil patch is only 30 miles, the river nearly 55,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil last month, Eagle Ford, more than double the January rate continues to barge.
Meanwhile, tourism Catoosa, Oklahoma, a 45-minute drive from the storage hub in Cushing, in the port business slowed to 4,300 million barrels in June, a third of the norm earlier in the year.
Stream changes is the latest shift rapidly developing North American oil trade landscape, in which the surface of arbitrage opportunities on a regular basis, only to disappear months later, as the market moves out of the rapid rise of shale refinery production logistics willing to kink.
Barge trade off two years ago, due to lack of pipeline pump surging Gulf Coast refineries were forced traders to alternative modes of transport more expensive: barges, trucks and trains in North Dakota and Canada's oil production capacity.
Over 3,000 inland barges, each between 10,000 and 30,000 barrels of crude oil a towing capacity, the country's fleet was pressed into service shipping oil south along the Mississippi River, or along other Midwestern waterways, to the Gulf of Mexico, lifting day rate and increase revenue for the like: Kirby (KEX.N) and U.S. commercial barge owners.
Traffic has collapsed since May, in Cushing, Oklahoma benchmark U.S. crude prices gap between Brent parity reduce global mark this summer. New pipeline capacity drained those in the Midwest inventories, erase profits, the company can make the barge to the Gulf Coast oil.
SEACOR Holdings shipping logistics company, unit Gateway Terminal Co. vice president, "Marshall said:" If arbitrage is there, they want to jump, they can literally flooded my factory, WTI-Brent spread open Bockman (CKH.N) operating rail terminal nearby river to St. Louis.
However, for now, the spot trading has dried up, leaving only two long-term customers Bockman: "If it does not exist, it will flow to where arbitrage barrels."
This is just what kind of barge trade do. While moving north to south, the oil profits evaporated, business is booming mobile crude oil west to east across Texas Eagle Ford oil excess depresses prices near Houston.
The graphics look: link.reuters.com/cyw52v
WATERWAYS
Mississippi barge now from the original voyage to Florida, Texas, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), skirted the coast one thousand miles inland canal navigation. They join, refinery has been operating as a parallel route Gulf Coast oil tankers and barges waiting for new pipeline capacity online, connect them to the production base, then west.
In Victoria Harbour, inland barge load of crude oil climbed steadily from nothing two years ago to load from June 70 to 75 months, or 50 months from 45 at the beginning of that, the port director Jane 妮弗斯塔斯 McCartney.
So many in the Midwest barge, they were relocated to the Gulf Coast, "she said."
Has risen "exponentially" in the past two months, she said, compared with July's 1.7 million barrels Eagle Ford crude oil - an average of nearly 55,000 barrels - port handling. These barges an artificial canal south to join GIWW.
Little-known companies are loading crude oil refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, near the "petrochemical alley" in Texas, Texas, City, and further east bound giant lines riverbank. They are ideally suited to take delivery of crude oil, rather than by rail, which is more popular inland barge.
Cheaper than rail transport barge about 30%, commercial manager Steve Clarke, in the shipping and logistics agency GAC Shipping U.S. companies, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In Texas, Corpus Christi, inland barge loading quantity of liquid cargo - about 85% of the oil - in 2013 more than 17% in the first half, said Ruben Medina, director of business development of the port.
Flooding the barge along the GIWW cause delays 24 hours, Victoria and Corpus Christi in a few days. Currently increase inland freight terminal handling more traffic.
Day rate of about $ 8,500 two tow barges, each carrying 30,000 barrels, a typical 14-day round trip from Corpus Christi refinery in New Orleans will cost approximately $ 3.50 shipping to $ 4, ship brokers said.
For crude oil refinery near the title from Victoria to Freeport, Texas, just 24 hours barges, each bucket may be half the cost, they said.
These economies may shift again near the end, to 2013, expects to complete the second phase of the crude oil pipeline from Houston to Houma, Louisiana, reversed.
South
Tank barge fleet in the southern migration, is the latest quick fix oil companies trying to adapt to the changing American landscape.
Surging output from the Texas Eagle Ford shale play, North Dakota's Bakken region, as well as crude oil from Canada has been backed up in Cushing, Oklahoma since December 2011, driving a string of record highs inventory, peaked in January this year.
PADD 2 is known as the Gulf Coast region is known from the Midwest PADD 3 waterborne shipments of crude oil reached a record 113,000 barrels in May, last month's data is available, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This is from the 2012 average of 13,000 barrels in 2010 and 54,000 barrels per day.
In the past few months this expensive route arbitrage economy has collapsed. Discounts transactions exceed the global benchmark Brent February to $ 20 a barrel, the U.S. inland crude oil this year, Cushing has evaporated, remove the incentive to use barges.
U.S. crude oil futures have been less than $ 4 discount on most international benchmark in the past month and a half, far more than the $ 17 or $ 18 a barrel Bakken field to move trains and barges to the Gulf of Mexico less transaction costs.
"Barge has almost stopped, said:" Rex Gilbreath, since the end of June has been a partner in the oil source terminal operators in the port tank tourism Catoosa, Oklahoma along the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, a short truck driving east Cushing hub.
Catoosa, where Gilbreath began lightering crude oil about two years ago, the total load of crude oil fell to 4,000 million barrels of July - the month only six barges - which is less than one-third of an average 13,000 barrels of the first four months year, said Jeff Yowell ports, communications director.
As trade diversion direction, so there is a greater player - such as oil giant BP (BP.L: Quote) Refining Valero (VLO.N) - move to secure more long-term charter barges, pushed some more small trading company, and help ensure that waterways on a possible long-term liquidity.
"Many small trade shops is slowing, but there is still need to keep refining and expertise between their refinery crude flows, Sean Ballard said:" L & R in Houston, Midland, Texas, Marine Brokers.



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