Last checked at 
(Adds Equinor declines comment)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - A flurry of tentative bookings
to export U.S. crude oil from the Gulf Coast suggests demand is
edging up after the coronavirus slammed energy consumption
worldwide.
BP, Trafigura and Equinor have
all tentatively fixed vessels this past week to carry U.S. crude
to global destinations over the coming month, according to
Refinitiv Eikon data and shipping sources.
Commodities merchant Trafigura and Occidental Petroleum
are among companies looking to book vessels to ship
crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia, one shipbroker said. The
U.S. Gulf export market was particularly active last week, with
around six ships confirmed with June loading dates, another
shipping source said.
Occidental, Equinor and BP declined comment. Trafigura did
not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. crude exports plunged as the coronavirus pandemic
eroded global demand by 30% in April. Exports dipped to 3.2
million barrels per day (bpd) last week, lowest in a month, the
U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
While U.S. crude's discount to Brent <LCOc1-CLc1> is still
narrow, freight rates for supertankers from the U.S. Gulf to
Singapore <TD-LPP-SIN> plunged more than 80% from early April to
the lowest since August 2019 this month, Refinitiv Eikon data
showed. Those rates are currently near $5.75 million after
peaking around $20 million in late March, sources said.
"Vessel freight rates have been coming down over the last
couple of weeks which is re-igniting interest in export
opportunities," said Andy Lipow, president of consultants Lipow
Oil Associates. He said demand in China and India is expected to
keep rising as the countries contain the spread of COVID-19.
Taiwanese refiner CPC Corp purchased 6 million barrels of
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude for delivery in
August, traders said on Tuesday.
Markets are concerned about rising U.S.-China tensions,
traders said, specifically that Washington could slap trade
sanctions on China following Beijing's move to impose a new
security law on Hong Kong.
(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; additional
reporting by Arathy S Nair
Editing by Marguerita Choy and Tom Brown)
