Peru’s Brenta crude oil gained popularity in the US
By Arathi Somasekar
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Peru’s Niche Brettana crude has been gaining traction in the United States, with the first shipment off the U.S. Gulf Coast this month as U.S. refiners look for options to cut down on heavy Mexican crude.
Britana, a rare heavy sweet crude with low iron content, is grown in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. Then it is loaded on the Amazon River and loaded on large ships from Brazil.
The vessel Radiant Pride transported 300,000 barrels of Britannia from Manaus on Brazil’s Negro River and was released in Houston on January 2, according to Kepler and LSEG vessel tracking data.
The asset was bought by oil major Shell, the source said. Shell declined to comment.
“Given last year’s severe fall in crude from Mexico to the US Gulf Coast, we are starting to see new heavy levels being pulled in to make up for this loss – a trend we expect to continue,” said Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler.
In the year Imports from Mexico to the US have fallen to record lows in 2024 as the Latin American country’s oil production is cut and most of its output remains at home for refining.
Relatively new to the market since production began in 2018, two cargoes of Peru’s Brettana were released on the U.S. West Coast last year — one at Marathon Petroleum and the other at PBF Energy terminals, according to Kpler data.
Marathon Petroleum declined to comment. PBF Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Petrotal Corp., the producer of Block 95, where the Britannia Oil Field is located, bought the property from Canadian producer Gran Tierra Energy in 2017 and currently produces 20,000 barrels of oil per day, CEO Manuel Zuniga said.
The challenges faced in transporting crude oil through pipelines operated by Peru’s state oil company PetroPeru. It led to a brief freeze on exports between 2022 and 2024, Zuniga said.
PetroPeru has struggled in recent years to keep the line operating as leaks and social unrest disrupt its flow.
Kepler data shows that between 2020 and 2022, three Brittany shipments are headed to the US West Coast and one to the US East Coast.
About 90 percent of the Brettana crude produced by Petrotal is exported, while the rest is transported by boat to PetroPeru’s refinery in Iquitos, Zuniga said.
Petrotal has a contract with Houston-based Novom Energy, where Novom buys crude for export and arranges transportation, Zuniga added.
Novum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
