Oil takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale field, is expected to tighten next month due to scheduled pipeline maintenance, which is already driving up the premium for delivered WTI into East Houston.
The 642-mile Wink-to-Webster pipeline, operated by Exxon Mobil and which ships more than 1 MMbbl/d of crude and condensate from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast, is due downtime next month for a 10-day scheduled maintenance period.
"Of course that means crude oil supplies are supposed to back up in the Permian Basin while crude oil inventories are drawn along the Gulf Coast," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
The spread between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude and the same grade delivered to Magellan's East Houston terminal (MEH) hit its widest point on April 29 at a $1.25/bbl premium, the widest since early June 2021, according to LSEG data.
Recommended Reading
Renewable Energy Producers Prep for More Demand from Big Tech
2024-05-07 - Dominion Energy expects to connect 15 more data centers this year.
Could Concentrated Solar Power Be an Energy Storage Gamechanger?
2024-03-27 - Vast Energy CEO Craig Wood shares insight on concentrated solar power and its role in energy storage and green fuels.
Amid ‘Battery Arms Race,’ Xerion CEO Talks Tech, Maturing Market, China
2024-04-10 - The late-stage battery startup is active in the military and electronics space, but is gaining attention for technology that extracts lithium from geothermal brine.
US Geothermal Sector Gears Up for Commercial Liftoff
2024-04-17 - Experts from the U.S. Department of Energy discuss geothermal energy’s potential following the release of the liftoff report.
Google Exec: More Collaboration Needed for Clean Power
2024-04-17 - Tech giant Google has partnered with its peers and several renewable energy companies, including startups, to ramp up the presence of renewables on the grid.