in previous posts i mentioned that when crude oil produced from shale makes its way to the US Gulf coast the spread between Brent and WTI will narrow
well it did narrow (the spread almost vanished in July this year) but it widened again coz there's just too much oil
MARKET WATCH: Oil futures prices drop before US inventory gain - Oil & Gas Journal
it's not that oil has stopped flowing to the Gulf coast
it's flowing to the Gulf coast but the supply built up there
shale oil is now competing with oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico (Light Louisiana Sweet)
LLS is very high quality crude (low viscosity, low sufur)
LLS trades at a premium to Brent... well... used to trade at a premium
LLS now trades at a discount to Brent
LLS discount to Brent could be permanent on light sweet crude invasion « The Barrel Blog
it's coz there's so much crude coming from shale oil producers
so one may ask why doesnt the US export that excess crude oil?
it can't
coz the US Congress in the 1970s made it illegal to export domestically produced crude oil
so there