Houston-based Shell Trading Co US (STUSCO) was the shipper of the cargo.
“We are pleased to offer the enhanced capability to safely and efficiently load the largest cargo vessels in the world with crude oil for export,” said Tom Shaw, LOOP president. “There could not be a better time to offer this service as domestic production surpasses 10 mill barrels per day in the ever dynamic global crude oil market.”
LOOP is the only US port capable of fully loading a VLCC, which helps optimise the US energy supply chain by enabling vessels to deliver foreign crude oil and to sail with US crude oil, rather than sail in ballast, the terminal operator said.
“The new onloading configuration was accomplished with only minor modifications to existing facilities and is scalable to meet the changing needs of the industry,” Shaw added.
LOOP, which has offloaded more than 10,200 crude oil vessels since commencing operations in 1981, is currently preparing its 2018 shipping schedule.
On 24th July, 2017, LOOP announced it intended to seek oil cargo owner interest in vessel loading services to complement its long standing offloading services.
Connections are provided from LOOP’s Clovelly Hub in Galliano (La), to its deepwater port. The new terminal configuration enables both VLCC loading and offloading without multiple shuttle tanker movements.
The offshore terminal consists of three single-point mooring buoys, which can accommodate VLCCs/ULCCs, MR Jones Act tankers and FPSO deepwater facility shuttle tankers. LOOP is also pipeline connected and has 72 mill barrels of crude oil storage capacity at its Clovelly Hub.
According to Bloomberg, the vessel which handled the first export cargo was Bahri’s VLCC ‘Shaden’, which left LOOP for Rizhao, China under a Unipec charter with a cargo of medium sour crude.