The vessel, the Aframax ‘Minerva Glory’, will load at Sorel-Tracey in the St Lawrence River on Canada’s East Coast and sail to Europe, Reuters reported.
Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal confirmed Reuters shipping data that showed that the was due to load at Sorel-Tracy.
Seetal declined to comment on the tanker’s destination, citing commercial confidentiality. However, according to Reuters data, the oil will be discharged in the Mediterranean.
The crude was delivered by rail to a storage facility in Sorel-Tracy owned by Kildair Service.
"Canada and the US remain our key markets but it's important that we establish customers outside North America," Seetal said.
The Sorel-Tracy facility has a rail offloading terminal, 3.2 mill barrels of crude and products storage capacity, plus a jetty that can accommodate vessels up to 260 m in length.
Seetal also declined to say whether the ‘Minerva Gloria’ shipment was a one-off cargo, or whether Suncor had plans to regularly ship Western Canadian crude to Europe, Reuters reported.