Taking a look at our proprietary ClipperData in recent days, there has been two trends that have jumped out: changing oil dynamics in the US, and changing flows in the Asian gasoline market. First up, the U.S. market. The chart below shows how the API of monthly waterborne crude imports into the US Atlantic Coast has been getting progressively lighter. As less crude by rail from Bakken has made its way to Atlantic Coast refiners in recent years due to unfavorable economics, the need for light, sweet crude has increasingly been met by West African (WAF) and North African (NAF) imports. Think: Nigeria, Angola, Algeria and Libya. While Atlantic Coast waterborne imports rose by 6 percent in 2017, WAF and NAF grades increased by a rampant 32 percent. Just over three-quarters of WAF / NAF barrels delivered to the Atlantic Coast in 2017 had an API of 33 or […]