By Sharik Khan and Nicole Jao
New York (Reuters) -California fuel fuel has grown to the highest for four years in May, as the refineries have headed for historical trading partners in Asia and eavesdrop on some unusual routes to compensate for the shortage of # 2 US Oil Consumer State.
Increasing the shipments to California offers an early view of the future of the largest markets of gasoline and reactive fuel in the United States, which are expected to become more readable for imports after Philips 66 and Valerro closes two major refineries in the country until next year.
“California capacity of refining is shrinking faster than fuel demand decreases, forcing the state in a long-term importance on imports,” said Kpler Sumit Ritolia analyst.
The total import of petroleum products in California increased to 279,000 barrels per day (BPD) in May, the highest after June 2021, when a similar volume was imported, according to vascular tracing KPLER.
About 187,000 BPDs, or nearly 70% of imports, come from South Korea and other Asian exporters, who were historically the best trading partners for California and other Western Coast countries, which are geographically isolated from major US refining centers along the Persian Gulf.
Recent interruptions in California in refinery owned by Chevron, PBF Energy and Valero have sparked a crisis of market supplies along the US West Coast, which requires more imports, said traders and analysts.
“We have seen more supply stocks due to several interruptions in the refinery,” said Stonex Oil analyst Alex Vodes. This has significantly increased prices in the Pacific northwest in the United States and has led to an increase in imports, he said.
There were a few days in which San Francisco’s gasoline was over $ 40 a barrel over pricing on the Gulf of Persian, almost doubled the average of $ 21, said Woodmac analyst Austin Lin.
Unusual routes
The import of California from the Bahamas, a commercial route, rarely used by refineries on the West Coast, has reached a record height of 38,000 BPD in May, KPler Data show. The previous record was 29,000 BPD in March.
The Caribbean routes were sporadic before this year’s refining interruptions, an average of only 6000 BPDs last year, data show.
The Bahamas do not improve oil, but it exports fuel and mixes components delivered there from the US shore on the shore of the bay, as part of a circumvention of a centuries -old US shipping law to deliver fuel to the east coast when the supply of the pipeline is insufficient.