頁岩繁榮促使美國向加拿大出口原油

Oil companies are securing licences to export US crude at a frantic pace as the shale boom leads to swelling supplies along the Gulf of Mexico.

隨着頁岩繁榮促使美國墨西哥灣地區供應大增，石油企業正紛紛申請美國原油的出口牌照。

The US government granted 103 licences to ship crude oil abroad in its latest fiscal year, up by more than half from the 66 approved in 2012 and the highest since at least 2006, according to data obtained by the Financial Times.

英國《金融時報》得到的數據顯示，美國政府在上一財年發放了103張原油出口牌照，比2012年的66張增加了一半多，也創下至少自2006年以來的最高紀錄。

All but a dozen of last year’s licences were to Canada, where companies may buy US crude as long as they refine it there.

去年除了12張牌照外，其餘都是向加拿大出口的牌照，加拿大企業可能購買美國原油——只要它們在加拿大煉油。

The clamour for licences is unexpected as Canada is the top foreign oil supplier to the US.

油企踊躍申請向加拿大出口原油牌照令人意外，因爲加拿大是美國的第一大石油供應國。

But huge production gains in states such as Texas, coupled with restrictions on coastal tanker movements to US refineries, encourage traders to buy cheap Gulf coast crude and sell it in eastern Canada at higher global prices.

但德克薩斯等州原油產量的大量增長，加上前往美國煉油廠的沿海運油活動受到限制，促使貿易商買入便宜的墨西哥灣原油，然後以較高的國際價格在加拿大東部銷售。

Exports to Canada totalled 99,000 barrels per day in September, the latest official data show. Traders estimate flows have since risen to about 200,000 b/d, the highest in more than a decade. Valero, the biggest North American refiner, has received a licence to export Eagle Ford crude from Texas to its refinery in Quebec, eastern Canada.

最新官方數據顯示，今年9月，美國向加拿大原油日出口量達到9.9萬桶。貿易商估計，該數字自那以後已增至約20萬桶，創下10多年來最高紀錄。北美最大煉油商瓦萊羅(Valero)獲得了一張牌照，可以將產於德克薩斯州伊格福特(Eagle Ford)的原油出口至該公司位於加拿大東部魁北克的煉油廠。

Irving Oil, which owns Canada’s biggest refinery, has been buying US crude delivered by vessel and railway. Trafigura, the trading house, said a subsidiary had held an export licence to Canada for years.

擁有加拿大最大煉油廠的歐文石油(Irving Oil)一直在購買海運和鐵路運輸的美國原油。貿易行托克(Trafigura)表示，它的一家子公司多年前就持有向加拿大出口原油的牌照。

More than 3.3m barrels of US crude have been exported to Canada from the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas in the 11 months to November, said Dennis DeVries, director of finance. Volume has jumped 10-fold from 2012. The shipments compete with production from Canada’s offshore Atlantic fields. Chile’s state oil company ENAP bought some of the displaced Canadian crude, traders said.

德克薩斯州科爾普斯克里斯蒂港(Port of Corpus Christi)財務總監丹尼斯•德弗里斯(Dennis DeVries)表示，今年頭11個月，經由該港出口至加拿大的美國原油已超過330萬桶。自2012年以來，這個數字已累計增長9倍。來自美國的原油與加拿大位於大西洋的海上油田形成競爭。貿易商表示，被美國原油取代的加拿大原油部分被智利國家石油公司ENAP買走。

US crude oil exports to markets outside Canada have been tightly controlled since 1975, when the country was reeling from the Arab oil embargo.

1975年，阿拉伯國家的石油禁運讓美國受到嚴重衝擊。自那時起，美國一直嚴格控制對加拿大以外市場的原油出口。

Jake Dweck, partner at the Sutherland Asbill & Brennan law firm, said: “Companies, particularly traders, often obtain licences to make sure they have the option to act if the market opportunity arises. So some end up actually using their licences while others just sit on them.”

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan律師事務所合夥人傑克•德韋克(Jake Dweck)說：“以貿易商爲首的企業獲取牌照，往往是爲了確保它們在市場出現機會的時候有采取行動的選擇。有些企業的牌照最終真正派上了用場，有些則沒有。”