ConocoPhillips, NuStar first to export crude after oil export ban lifted
Houston-based ConocoPhillips and San Antonio-based NuStar Energy reportedly were the first operators to export U.S. crude oil after the export ban was lifted last month by Congress. The first exports – using Eagle Ford oil pumped by ConocoPhillips and transported by NuStar – left the Port of Corpus Christi Dec. 31 headed for Europe aboard the Theo T tanker. NuStar said the crude is being sold to Switzerland-based Vitol, an international trading company that will market the oil globably. Houston-based Enterprise Energy Partners said it also was loading a tanker the first week of the new year for Vitol.
NuStar said it is expanding its Corpus Christi operations, including building a new dock to prepare for more exports. “Based on our investments in Corpus Christi and our south Texas pipeline system, NuStar was well-positioned, equipped and staffed to immediately begin loading cargoes for export,” Brad Barron, president and CEO, said. The Houston Chronicle said Houston will also benefit, although the Houston Ship Channel is already overcrowded. Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, added, “We’ll be able to get into global markets, we’ll be able to get more cash, and that cash will flow back to the U.S.”
