Chinese refiner Rongsheng Petrochemical has purchased its first Canadian crude oil through the recently expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) from TotalEnergies via a tender process, according to Reuters.
Rongsheng’s purchase consists of a 500,000-barrel cargo of Access Western Blend (AWB) crude, a heavy and highly acidic diluted bitumen produced by Canadian Natural Resources and MEG Energy. This cargo is scheduled for delivery to Rongsheng’s refinery in Zhoushan in August.
Rongsheng has also purchased 2 million barrels of Abu Dhabi Upper Zakum crude from Aramco Trading at 60 cents a barrel above July Dubai quotes, prior to freight charges.
Additionally, the Chinese refiner has acquired 2 million barrels of West African crude, including Congolese Djeno and Angolan Mostarda grades, at $2.50-$3 a barrel above July dated Brent on a cost and freight basis from Unipec.
The Trans Mountain Pipeline transports crude oil and refined petroleum products from Edmonton, Alberta, to refineries and terminals in British Columbia and Washington State, with the capacity to ship oil to offshore markets in Asia and the US West Coast through the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia.
The expansion of the pipeline involves constructing a parallel line aimed to increase capacity from about 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of oil per day. Customers for the first shipments include refiners in China, California and India.
