PetroChina Pulls October Fuel Cargoes; Canada Fast-Tracks a Pacific Oil Pipeline
PetroChina canceled some gasoline and jet fuel cargoes that were set to ship in October, according to sources briefed on the matter who spoke to Reuters on Thursday. That matters if you move product at the rack. When a major Asian supplier pulls barrels off the water, the slack gets covered from somewhere, and prices here could firm.
China's canceled cargoes
China has stopped its fuel exports once already this year. It suspended exports in the spring and early summer to protect domestic supply during the Strait of Hormuz crisis, then removed most of those restrictions by the middle of July. Now cargoes are getting pulled again.
For a US jobber, the direct line is thin. China doesn't ship much gasoline or jet to the Gulf or East Coast. The indirect line is where it matters. Fewer Chinese barrels into Asia pull other suppliers' product east, and a tighter global pool can firm up the screen you buy against. Watch gasoline and jet first, since those are the cargoes PetroChina named.
There's no cents-per-gallon figure on it yet, and how long it lasts is the open question. "Until further notice" could mean two weeks or two months. If it runs long, unbranded supply is usually where the squeeze shows up first, so keep an eye on how your racks move relative to branded.
The Canada pipeline
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Ottawa will list a proposed 1 million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline to the Pacific coast as a project of national interest, pushing it through a single federal review that Ottawa aims to finish by September 1, 2027. Construction could begin shortly after that.
This is crude, not product, and it is years out, so it changes nothing at your terminal this quarter. The longer play is where Alberta barrels go. Right now Canada ships most of its crude south into the US, and PADD 2 and PADD 4 refiners run on heavy Canadian grades priced off that captive flow. A Pacific route to Asian buyers gives Alberta another customer and another way to price. If it gets built, the discount US refiners have enjoyed on Western Canadian Select could narrow, and that eventually reaches the diesel and gasoline coming off Midwest plants.
What to watch
How long PetroChina's pullback runs, and whether gasoline and jet cargoes get redirected and firm up the US screen. On the pipeline, nothing moves fast. Watch the 2027 review date.