A milestone took place last week: the first U.S. oil shipments to another country that is not Canada. The first batches of ultra-light oil condensate were successfully delivered to Asian consignees. Batches of an undisclosed amount of ultra-light condensate were sold to South Korea’s GS Caltex and Japan’s Cosmo Oil with shipments set for July and August respectively. However, despite small delivery volumes, these deals are of great significance. Indeed, they prove that the U.S. is determined to lower dependence of its allies on oil supplies from Russia and Iraq. So, the U.S. has displayed its readiness to be the top global oil supplier and not to moderate development of domestic shale deposits.
So, the mechanism of oil export sales has been tuned up. This result was achieved in early summer following confirmation from the U.S. Commerce Department that the ultra-light oil could be exported without a license if processed minimally. This resolution was triggered by boosting shale oil and gas production in the U.S. Besides, European and Asian consumers express concerns to expand possibilities of purchasing oil from different suppliers. Assessing the prints for H1 2014, the U.S. managed to break its own record in a volume of oil exploitation hitting a new multi-year high, although it is still considered to be a petrochemical net importer. The U.S. government has always adhered to the principle of using domestic natural resources. Despite the large-scale oil extraction, the U.S. produces up to 1 million barrels of condensate annually. Processing condensate through a stabilizer is a quite simple procedure to export it without a license. This volume is twice bigger than the total export sales from Qatar. Besides, oil condensate can be used as a raw material at petrochemical plants. Moreover, it is suitable to dilute crude oil extracted in Latin America.
