On 27 June, the analysts at Kpler spread the word that the exports of crude oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast could break a record 3.3 MMbbl/d this quarter as Europe has regard to U.S. crude which can outweigh sanctioned Russian oil. Due to Washington's decision to release 180 MMbbl of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, U.S. exports have increased in the last three months, as it has flooded the domestic market. Exports to Europe are anticipated averaging approximately 1.4 MMbbl/d this quarter, about 30% higher than the year-ago quarter, meanwhile, export to Asia is set to decrease to less than 1 MMbbl/d. Despite that the U.S. has lost about 1 MMbbl/d of refining capacity since 2020, it also boosted exports thanks to the government’s intervention to back crude supplies which has had consequences in growth in exports. Throughput via the Port of Corpus Christi has grown by more than 150,000 bbl/d and has become 1.86 MMbbl/d. Nevertheless, Port of Houston exports also have been increasing since the third quarter of last year, they remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Being the main means of transferring crude oil around the world, pipelines rapidly route oil and its derivative products (gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, heating oil, and heavier fuel oils) to refineries and empower other businesses. The U.S. and Canada solely make North America a major oil hub for more than 90,000 miles of crude oil and petroleum product pipelines, which are connected to more than 140 refineries daily processing about 20 million barrels of oil. Compared to 2010, U.S. crude oil production has increased more than twice: from 5.4 to 11.5 million barrels a day. Therefore, newly produced oil obliged energy companies to expand their pipeline networks, but it has only increased by 56%. According to the latest data, Plains manages the largest pipeline network across the U.S. and Canada (its diameter is at least 10 inches) which is the 14,919-mile network that spans from the northwestern tip of Alberta down to the southern coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The place where all these various spreading pipeline networks carry crude oil is refineries, where it is transformed into different petroleum products. Gulf Coast (PADD 3) possesses several refineries with the largest throughput in North America that process more than 500,000 barrels per day. Not only does the development of new pipelines give a plethora of opportunities for economic growth but also it remains a contentious issue in Canada and the U.S., with the cancellation of the KeystoneXL pipeline emblematic of growing anti-pipeline sentiment. In 2021, only 14 petroleum liquids pipeline construction plans were completed in the U.S., which is considered the lowest amount of new pipelines and expansions ever since 2013. Anti-pipeline sentiment did not come out unexpectedly as leaks and spills in just the last decade have resulted in billions of dollars of damages. From 2010 to 2020, the Pipelineand Hazardous Materials Safety Administration reported 983 incidents that resulted in 149,000 spilled and unrecovered barrels of oil, even five fatalities, 27 injuries, and more than $2.5B in damages.

Canadian heavy crude, being deeply discounted for several years due to a lack of pipelines, is eventually trading like a “North American” grade, moving in tandem with U.S. sour crudes sold on the GulfCoast thanks to Enbridge’s expansion of its 3 pipeline late last year. Meanwhile, the Gulf is full of sour crude over Washington’s largest-ever release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) that will amount to 180 MMbbl during six months, trying to tame exorbitant fuel prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The market is flooded with millions of barrels of sour crude from storage caverns in Louisiana and Texas. At the world’s biggest heavy crude refining center, U.S. Gulf Coast, heavy grades like Mars and Poseidon are languishing. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, Canada exports around 4.3 MMbbl/d to the United States, whereas until last year demand to ship crude on export pipelines increased capacity, leaving barrels bottlenecked in Hardisty.

The joint project to improve and market a low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production and export facility was presented on May, 6 by Enbridge Inc. and Humble Midstream LLC. Deployment of the facility is taken under the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC) basis close by Corpus Christi. Being the premier export facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the EIEC plays a vital role in world energy security and sustainability. Companies plan to develop a utility-scale efficiently low carbon production facility, able to combine both low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia to meet the growing global and domestic demand. It is expected to sequester up to 95% of CO2 generated in the production process in carbon capture facilities, especially ones owned and operated by Enbridge which makes this process a fully integrated low-carbon solution.

By purchasing the gathering and processing assets of Trace Midstream, Williams' existing footprint gains expanded capacity in one of the nation's largest growth basins, bringing its Haynesville gathering capacity to over 4 Bcf/d — increasing more than 200% from 1.8 Bcf/d. The deal also includes a long-term commitment from Trace and Quantum to support Williams' Louisiana Energy Gateway project (LEG), which is aimed to deliver responsibly sourced Haynesville’s naturalgas to markets along the Texas and Louisiana GulfCoast

The ever-increasing demand for natural gas exports from the Gulf Coast started a race to further develop Permian Basin. Various companies, including Kinder Morgan and MPLX, are among those looking at building new pipelines in the region due to the demand spike. But Energy Transfer seems to edge past them into the lead since its project strikes as the most economical option for the basin outside of capacity expansions on existing pipelines and could essentially add 1.5-2 Bcf/d of transport capacity with just 260 miles of new pipe.

Ironwood Midstream expanded its operations in the Eagle Ford region through its merger with Nuevo Midstream. Thanks to this, Ironwood II has increased its crude oil and natural gas throughput capacities in the famous shale to approximately 400,000 bbl/d and 410 MMcf/d, respectively. With 390 miles of pipelines, the company manages 245,000 acres of dedicated land.

Texas Cheniere and Swiss Glencore had entered into a free-on-board agreement for approximately 0.8 million tonnes of LNG per annum, starting in April 2023 for 13 consecutive years. This SPA demonstrates the commercial momentum Cheniere has been enjoying and marks an important milestone, as the company lays the groundwork for a final investment decision on Corpus Christi Stage 3, which is expected to occur next year.