Bakken oil in line for export to China

Continental Resources Inc. has sold about 1 million bbl of Bakken oil to Atlantic Trading & Marketing Inc. (ATMI), which intends to export the oil to China. Daily sales transactions of 33,500 b/d will take place from Cushing, Okla., beginning in November. ATMI will load China-bound tankers in Texas ports to begin the transport process.

Continental’s Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm cited the event an “historic day” for the company and described the sale as part of the company’s long-term strategy to establish multiple international markets for US light, sweet crude. The deal comes after the US lifted in December 2015 the crude export ban enacted since 1977 (OGJ Online, Oct. 9, 2015).

With a current $6 discount to Brent, stabilized US production and increasing sales of US crude to international markets could drive down US inventories, “correcting much of the recent disparity between Brent and WTI prices,” Hamm said.

Contact Tayvis Dunnahoe at [email protected].