Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Crude Oil From the Midwest Being Shipped from Tulsa Port -- A Historic First

Link here.
Crude oil is being shipped out of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa for the first time in history, thanks to a strange disparity in oil prices between Oklahoma and the Gulf of Mexico. On July 29, PetroSource LLC shipped 45,000 barrels of crude oil from various suppliers down the Verdigris River on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The company, which is an oil and gas accounting firm with a terminal at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, is looking to make another shipment soon.  
Later in the story: 
Capacity to move crude oil in the United States is lacking somewhat, and Gulf Coast refiners are clamoring for more product. Gilbreath said the oil is coming from various suppliers as far away as North Dakota. The company is hoping to make another shipment as soon as maintenance along the Arkansas River is completed. "It's such a weird thing that's happening," Gilbreath said. "The numbers just work in our favor right now." Shipping via the waterway is easier and cheaper than by rail or truck, he said. PetroSource has a terminal at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and regularly uses the waterway to ship other products. Several companies at the port's industrial complex ship gasoline, asphalt and other petroleum products on the waterway, but the crude shipment is a first, said port director Bob Portiss.
Wow, does the federal government (EPA, Homeland Security, FTC) know this?

2 comments:

  1. IN MINNEAPOLIS, WHICH IS THE HEAD OF THE NAVIGABLE MISSISSIPPI RIVER LOCK SYSTEM THE RIVER IS 9 FOOT DRAFT. FARTHER DOWNSTREAM IT IS 12 FOOT, A 50% INCREASE IN CAPACITY. FIGURE 6.5 BARRELS/272 GALLONS PER US TON. -GREG

    http://www.caria.org/barges_tugboats.html

    What is the size of a barge?
    The standard barge is 195 feet long, 35 feet wide, and can be used to a 9-foot draft. Its capacity is 1500 tons. Some of the newer barges today are 290 feet by 50 feet, double the capacity of earlier barges.

    How many barges and towboats are there?
    There are approximately 26,000 dry cargo barges, 3,000 tanker barges, and 1,200 towboats operating today.

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  2. This Bakken story just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

    I know folks think Michelle Bachmann is a flake when she says she can get gasoline to under $2.00/gallon, but the point is that she thinks there is plenty of oil in the western hemisphere that can be produced, getting us off dependency on OPEC.

    ReplyDelete