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* Exports to double from current 300,000 bpd by early 2020
* Access to Permian oil, global marketing arm aid exports
* Ability to load supertankers at Corpus Christi
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Florence Tan
NEW YORK/HOUSTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Occidental PetroleumCorp has emerged as one of the biggest exporters of U.S.shale oil, rivaling large trading firms and oil majors, in amarket now worth more than $150 million every day.
It is showing no signs of slowing down, with plans to doublecrude exports to 600,000 barrels per day in 2020, CynthiaWalker, senior vice president midstream and marketing atOccidental, said in an interview.
"As we move into the end of this year and early in 2020 ...we'll probably see a doubling of exports over that period oftime," she said.
In 2017, Occidental was the largest exporter of crudeproduced in the Permian oilfield of Texas and New Mexico, thelargest U.S. oil field, from the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Through 2018, it remained one of the top three exporters ofU.S. crude, according to limited customs data on Refinitiv Eikonanalyzed by Reuters and exclusive interviews with companyexecutives and employees.
Company-level data on exports is notoriously guarded andkept secret. The U.S. Census Bureau declined to provide data,citing a law which protects confidentiality.
Occidental stands out among the myriad trading houses, oilproducers and shippers with operations in the Permian, as itcurrently exports about 300,000 bpd of oil, roughly 10 percentof U.S. crude exports.
According to limited Customs data available on RefinitivEikon, other top shippers included Koch Supply and Trading, BP Plc’s trading arm and Trafigura AG.
Occidental produces significant volumes of oil in thePermian - and its marketing arm buys barrels from other Permianshale producers. In addition, it has contracts for long-termshipments on pipelines and access to storage and exportterminals as well.
"We touch anywhere between 20 and 25 percent of every barrelthat's produced in the Permian basin," Walker said.
EXPORT BOOM BRINGS OPPORTUNITY
U.S. crude exports have skyrocketed after Washington lifteda decades-long ban of exports in late 2015, rising at a ratefaster than many anticipated to a record at about 3.6 millionbpd last month. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2F0CVck)
U.S. oil production has risen by more than 2 million bpd inthe last 12 months, also to an all-time high of over 12 millionbpd, according to U.S. Energy Department data. Given the countryconsumes several million barrels more than that daily, manyanalysts had assumed exports would grow more slowly.
That has not been the case - exports have doubled from theend of 2017, a lucrative opportunity for companies with accessto supply and export terminals.
Companies are scrambling to build Gulf Coast ports to handlemore than 3 million bpd in new supplies expected over the nextfive years.
Profits at Occidental's midstream and marketing segment,which includes exports, surged more than seventeen-fold to $1.9billion in 2018, excluding items, mostly thanks to moving crudefrom the Permian to the refining and export hub in the GulfCoast.
As oil retreated to around $50 a barrel, Occident sharesended 2018 down more than 15 percent, closely tracking theweakness in oil prices.
While Occidental cashed in last year, rivals ran intobottlenecks trying to get barrels from Permian to the Gulf Coastfor export due to a lack of adequate pipeline access. Thatcaused regional prices to slump, even as the price of U.S. oilfutures rose to more than $75 a barrel at one point. Thebottleneck has since eased as companies expanded pipelines.
Oxy has a 10-year service agreement with BridgeTex pipeline,a key conduit to move crude from the Permian. The companysecured a deal for 200,000 bpd of space in 2012 and has financedthe line's construction.
Last year, Oxy not only sent its own barrels, but boughtthose of others. Pioneer Natural Resources Co, a rivalPermian producer, sold 17 percent of their production toOccidental Marketing in 2018, according to regulatory filings.Occidental also bought a massive 34 percent of the barrelsPioneer buys from other companies.
The company also had the advantage of owning and operating aterminal in Ingleside, Corpus Christi, where it began testingsupertanker export capabilities in 2017. Oxy later sold theterminal to Moda Midstream but has retained a 10-year contractfor 450,000 bpd of exports at the oil export terminal.
The company has the ability to send about 470,000 bpd out ofthe Permian via pipelines and expects to add more capacity in2019, Chief Executive Vicki Hollub said at an industryconference last year.
The port partially loaded its first supertanker - Nasiriyahchartered by Occidental for Europe - in December which helpedslash costs for ship-to-ship transfers, a costly endeavor thathas limited U.S. exports because most Gulf terminals are notdeep enough to handle the supertankers, known as Very LargeCrude Carrier (VLCC) as they can transport 2 million barrels ofoil, desired by Asian buyers.
"We don't worry at all about access," Walker said, addingthat the company has a 75-cent per barrel advantage on loadingcosts due to the loading efficiencies at the Ingleside terminal.
To boost its export capability, Moda is expanding itsstorage and considering building a second berth for VLCCs.
"We're trying to get as much to the Gulf and get it out ofthere," a source at Occidental said.
"We have the place that is easily accessible - at Ingleside- that really is what they're using to market to these foreignplayers in Asia."
(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York and Florence Tanin Houston; Editing by David Gaffen and Lisa Shumaker)
