Rising oil imports spur lower-cost shipping

Abstract

U.S. imports of crude and refined oil products topped domestic crude oil production for the first time in mid-March, 1976. With domestic oil production forecast to continue declining, imports can only go up as demand for hydrocarbon fuels and chemical raw materials rises. Not much can be done to reduce the base price of imported crude oil and refined products, so an effort is being made to hold down transport costs. This effort is concentrated on improving the handling of crude oil imports. These projects currently include development of more transshipment terminals such as those in the Caribbean Sea and of superports or offshore ports in the Gulf of Mexico 25 miles south of Louisiana and Texas. The cost advantage expected from imported crude shipped in supertankers cannot be realized unless the oil can be brought into the U.S. Direct shipment will not be the case unless proposed superports such as LOOP and Seadock off Tea Texas are built. The main currently used alternative is three transshipment terminals located on Caribbean islands. Those operating terminals are at Bonaire and Curacao, also in the Netherlands Antilles, and Freeport in the Bahamas; development of several other superports is reported briefly. The environmentalmore » impacts and subsequent intervention by environmentalists are discussed. Applications for licenses to build superports are now undergoing scrutiny, and various kinds of hearings by Federal agencies are causing delays in construction schedules. (MCW)« less