ConocoPhillips, NuStar to export US crude

OREANDA-NEWS. January 04, 2016. US independent ConocoPhillips and terminal operator NuStar Energy plan tomorrow to export the first unlicensed shipment of US crude in 40 years.

Less than two weeks after President Barack Obama signed into law a measure repealing the export controls, ConocoPhillips and NuStar said today they will have a tanker of light Eagle Ford crude loaded for export at NuStar's North Beach Terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, tomorrow.

ConocoPhillips said it is committed to sell the cargo to trading firm Vitol.

The companies have not revealed the crude's destination.

Last week Enterprise Products Partners said it would export a cargo of US crude in early January. Vitol will also purchase that cargo. Vitol would not disclose the destination or buyer of the crude. That cargo is scheduled to load at the Enterprise Hydrocarbon Terminal (EHT) on the Houston Ship Channel in the first week of January.

The US Congress on 18 December passed an omnibus tax and spending bill that lifts restrictions against exports of most US crude. Obama signed the legislation the same day, and the US Commerce Department lifted all licensing requirements on 22 December.