U.S. East Coast Refiners Slash Light Crude Imports

Reuters - East Coast refiners slashed imports of lighter, sweet crudes from countries like Norway and Nigeria last year as they commissioned new rail offloading terminals to increase use of domestic Bakken and Canadian crudes.

By mid-year, new rail-to-barge facilities in Pennsylvania and Virginia will be able to bring in another 200,000 barrels per day of North American crude, enough for refiners like PBF Energy Inc or Phillips 66 to back out their last foreign barrels of some grades. A third facility in New Jersey may add to the flow soon.