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US crude oil is seen as the cheaper option as the OPEC and Russia pact begins to bite after agreeing jointly to oil output jointly by 1.8million barrels per day (bpd) help rebalance the market and to help elevate the benchmark Brent prices. Now, the relatively high prices brought about by that pact, coupled with surging US output, are making it harder to sell Russian, Nigerian and other oil grades in Europe, traders said. A trader with a Mediterranean refiner, who regularly buys Russian and Caspian Sea crude and has recently started purchasing US oil. He said: “US oil is on offer everywhere. It puts local grades under a lot of pressure.” In April, US supplies to Europe are set to reach an all-time high of roughly 550,000 bpd (around 2.2 million tonnes), according to the Thomson Reuters Eikon trade flows monitor.

GETTY US oil becoming more popular in Europe as OPEC and Russia oil prices rise

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In January-April, US supplies jumped four-fold year-on-year to 6.8 million tonnes, or 68 large Aframax tankers, according to the same data. Trade sources said US flows to Europe would keep rising, with US barrels increasingly finding homes in foreign refineries, often at the expense of oil from OPEC or Russia. In 2017, Europe received roughly seven percent, however this year, the number has nearly doubled to 12 percent according to Reuters data. Top destinations include Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, with traders pointing to large imports by BP, Exxon Mobil and Valero.

GETTY Will WTI overtake Brent?

Polish refiners PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos and Norway’s Statoil are sampling US grades, while other new buyers are likely, David Wech of Vienna-based JBC Energy consultancy said. Mr Wech said: “There are a number of customers who still may test US crude oil.” Following the US lifting its ban on oil exports in 2015 which was brought in by then President Gerald Ford in 1975, US oil slowly started to take place in the European markets. Ehsan Ul-Haq, director of London-based consultancy Resource Economics said: “European refiners started experimenting with US crude last year. Now, they know more than enough to process this crude.”