Thursday 21 June 2012

Analysis: Texas refinery crisis rattles Saudi oil export drive | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's unexpected surge in oil exports to the United States this year has fallen into question following a deepening crisis this month at the kingdom's jointly owned and newly expanded Texas refinery.

With the huge 325,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude oil unit at Motiva's Port Arthur, Texas, refinery now expected to be out of commission for as long as a year, crippling the biggest plant in the United States just weeks after the completion of a $10 billion expansion project, the Saudis are likely to throttle back U.S. exports that hit four-year peaks in recent months.

But a deeper look at detailed import data suggests that any curbs on production may not be as deep as many expect. In fact, a Reuters analysis of government data shows that the 27 percent jump in Saudi shipments in the first quarter was driven by higher sales to a variety of customers, not only Motiva, which the kingdom jointly owns with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L).

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