First Tanker of U.S. Crude Oil for Export Launches From Texas

By Lynn Cook and Erin Ailworth 

The first oil tanker of freely traded U.S. crude launched Thursday afternoon from the Port of Corpus Christi, about 160 miles north of the Texas border with Mexico.

ConocoPhillips Co. and NuStar Energy LP loaded the tanker with oil pumped from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. The companies have skipped ahead of Enterprise Products Partners LP, which said last week that it expected to load the first oil export cargo in Houston during the first week of January.

President Barack Obama signed legislation lifting the long-standing ban on exporting U.S. oil less than two weeks ago. It was put into place during the mid-1970s in the wake of the Arab Oil Embargo, which caused fuel rationing and price spikes for American drivers.

Vitol Group, a Dutch oil-trading powerhouse, is buying the oil cargo, according to NuStar. Vitol also is buying the U.S. crude-oil cargo that will ship out of Houston during the first week of 2016. The company has a subsidiary that owns a refinery in Switzerland.

Write to Lynn Cook at [e-mail] and Erin Ailworth at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 31, 2015 17:53 ET (22:53 GMT)

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