Crude exports from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) surged unexpectedly to a record high in June despite a fall in overall US oil exports amid the coronavirus pandemic. An industry survey found that oil exports from LOOP quadrupled from 102,209 bpd in February to 420,345 bpd on June 26. At the same time, crude exports from other terminals decreased by 21% to 2.31 million bpd, the survey showed.
LOOP mostly ships out Mars crude, a mid-sour grade produced from the Mars platform, a Shell-BP joint venture located about 210 km off the coast of New Orleans. LOOP is the only US port that currently fully loads VLCCs, which can carry up to 2 million barrels of crude.
