April 23, 2022 [Rigzone] – Marathon Petroleum Corp., previously the largest U.S. buyer of Russian oil, just beefed up supplies of Ecuadorian crude after sanctions cut off its supplies from Moscow.

The Findlay, Ohio-based fuelmaker offered a 75-cent premium over the price marker for nearly 8 million barrels for Ecuador’s Oriente, narrowly outbidding Jamaica’s Petrojam and Petroperu in a competitive tender.

U.S makers of gasoline and diesel are seeking to replace Russian oil products after banning them in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Oil traders got some relief from the U.S. release from the strategic reserve, but those barrels are mostly stored on the Gulf Coast, and are of difficult access for refiners on the West Coast, including Marathon. The purchase underscores the extent that Russia’s war in Ukraine has upended the global oil trade.

Petroecuador, which exports through the Pacific Coast port of Esmeraldas, was able to offer the biggest volume of crude since 2019 after renegotiating terms to one of its oil-backed loans with Asian oil companies.

Ecuador’s state oil company will deliver two monthly shipments to Marathon from July 2022 through May 2023.

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