quote:
American refiners are relying on oil supplies from the country’s biggest shale basins more than ever as flows of denser varieties from places like Mexico ebb.

US fuelmakers are consuming the lightest oil diet on record, according to recent government data, leaning heavily on shale formations in Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota. The shift comes as heavy crude supplies are strained by falling production from Mexico and a de facto US ban on imports of Venezuelan oil.

At the same time global markets are awash with lighter and sweeter oils from Guyana and the North Sea, as well as the US, reducing their premium over historically cheaper heavy crudes.

quote:
The discount for heavy, sour oils versus lighter, sweeter varieties has shrunk from about $7.70 a barrel a year ago to about $3.25 a barrel currently, in the range where refiners are willing to pay up slightly for the higher-quality feedstock.

The largest refineries in the country have invested in recent years to maximize the use of shale oil, which is shielded from geopolitical tensions and arrives via pipeline in a matter of days, instead of weeks via ships. Last year, 61% of the oil used to make gasoline and diesel was domestic, a share poised to rise this year if shale supplies remain economical.

LINK

I know several of you downstream baws have said over the years that our domestic refineries are built to operate better with the heavy crude, so what does this do in regards to consumer cost for the final product? If anything?

This post was edited on 7/3/25 at 12:49 pm