Global oil corporation ExxonMobil, which is known for products like Mobil 1 New Life 0W/40, can now claim to be the first significant U.S. oil corporation to ship U.S. crude oil overseas.
This move sees them join a group of independent oil traders, who are trying to lower the oversupply of oil in the U.S., following the lifting of a four-decade ban on oil exports.
Exxon shipped the oil to one of its own refineries in Sicily, according to an insider, three traders and a ship broker.
The oil was shipped on the Maran Sagitta oil tanker in early February, and has recently arrived at the port of Augusta in Italy.
Up until this point, a number of trading houses, including Trafigura Pte and European-based companies, had shipped U.S crude overseas, with ExxonMobil being the first American company to do so.
In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil confirmed that it may exercise the option to export crude from the U.S. occasionally, although it would not give any details of proprietary agreements.
America is currently experiencing a 90-year high oil glut, and this move should help them to dispose of reserves across the globe.
Many oil traders are shipping West Texas Intermediate to Mediterranean refiners in order to make gains from the difference in crude prices between the U.S. and Europe.
These European exports come as a direct result of a congressional deal to lift 1970s prohibition on overseas shipments, which took place in December 2015.
