Panama: Tesoro Moves Oil to Pacific on Reversed Panama Line

Tesoro Moves Oil to Pacific on Reversed Panama Line

Story By Reuters

Tesoro Corp (TSO.N) has shipped its first barrels of crude oil from the Atlantic to the Pacific Basin on a reversed Panama pipeline, the company said Thursday.

Reversal of the 81-mile (130 km) Petroterminal de Panama pipeline, which formerly flowed from the Pacific to the Atlantic, creates a new oil conduit from the Atlantic to the Pacific and gives Tesoro access to more crude for its refineries in California, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, the company said.

"In addition to exposing Tesoro to an array of crude oils typically marketed in the Atlantic Basin, our abilities to utilize the tankage dedicated for Tesoro's exclusive use at PTP and the reversed pipeline are expected to afford our company strategic advantages related to freight, storage, blending, and delivery scheduling optimization," said Doug Koskie, vice president of arbitrage trading for Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company.

The first oil through was Castilla blend from Colombia, which will be refined in California, Koskie said.

Tesoro is a leading independent producer of petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, in the western United States, including Alaska, and its seven refineries have a total capacity of 660,000 barrels per day. (Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by Walter Bagley)