Reuters, citing ship tracking data, reported that the decline in U.S. gasoline demand, the increase in fuel production after refineries recovering from autumn maintenance, and the decline due to surplus and Panama Canal transportation problems prompted some rare U.S. gasoline cargoes to be shipped to places like Mozambique and Australia, Reuters reported.
The tanker STI Madison, chartered by Totalenergies' Atlantic** and marketing company, loaded 700,000 barrels of gasoline from Marathon Petroleum's refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, in mid-December and is expected to be unloaded in Sydney around the end of January, according to LSEG vessel tracking data cited by Reuters.
This will be the first shipment of gasoline from the U.S. to Australia in nearly three years, as U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline** is now quite cheap. However, traders do not expect a surge in shipments from the US to Australia, and the difference is expected to narrow in the near term.
Refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast have slashed gasoline exports** due to drought and water shortages in the Panama Canal, which has been restricted from tanker and container ship traffic for months.
Philip Jones Lux, a gasoline analyst at data provider Sparta Commodities, told Reuters at the time that the U.S. Gulf Coast was the cheapest gasoline for almost everyone in the Atlantic basin** as of mid-December.
Reuters noted that the volume of gasoline shipments transiting from the United States in November 2023 was nearly halved compared to November 2022 due to restrictions on the Panama Canal.
U.S. commercial petroleum product inventories have been increasing in recent weeks due to the seasonal decline in U.S. gasoline demand, and U.S. gasoline** is also higher. Gasbuddy's Patrick de Haan said earlier this month that U.S. gasoline is **is** falling below $3 for the first time since 2021 due to sluggish demand. (Compiled by Xiao Chen).
For more exciting content, please visit WeChat*** Smart Energy Window