UAE importing US light crude for domestic use

Move allows the country to export more of its own crude — analysts

The UAE bought oil directly from the US in December, according to data from the federal government. A tanker sailed from Houston and arrived in the Gulf last month.

The cargo of American condensate, a type of very light crude oil, was preferred to regional grades because its superior quality made more suitable for the UAE’s processing plants, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The end of a ban on US exports in 2015 coupled with the explosive growth of shale production, has changed the flow of petroleum around the world. Shipments from US ports have increased from a little more than 100,000 barrels a day in 2013 to 1.53 million in November, travelling as far as China and the UK.

The US exported about 700,000 barrels of light crude in December to the UAE, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. While Energy Information Administration data show it’s the fourth-largest Opec producer’s first cargo of US oil, Adnoc said in July it purchased condensate from the US for September delivery. Although it exports more than two million barrels a day, the UAE typically imports extra-light condensate to process in a unit known as a splitter.

Analysts have told Gulf News that lighter, cheaper crude is being imported for internal use, which allows the UAE to export more of its own crude.

With rising crude exports and already booming overseas sales of refined petroleum products such as gasoline, the US net oil imports have plunged to below 3 million barrels a day, the lowest since data available starting 45 years ago, compared with more than 12 million barrels a day in 2006. The US could become a net petroleum exporter by 2029, the EIA said this week.