“There could not be a better time to offer this service as domestic production surpasses 10 million barrels per day in the ever-dynamic global crude oil market,” Tom Shaw, president of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) said on Sunday as the first supertanker loaded with U.S. crude oil set sail from the Gulf Coast en route to Asia. LOOP is the only U.S. port capable of fully loading a very large crude carrier (VLCC) — a supertanker capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of oil — and the first outbound super-vessel from that port now steps up the United States’ competitiveness in crude oil sales overseas. The port is expected to reduce shipping costs, thus making U.S. exports more attractive, especially on long-haul routes to the oil-hungry markets in Asia. The U.S. has already exported crude oil in supertankers, but because all U.S. ports except for LOOP […]