POLAR DISCOVERY

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Tanker with Alaskan crude bound for S.Korea as U.S. seeks new markets

The first U.S. export of Alaskan crude to South Korea in more than a decade set sail at the weekend, according to a company source and shipping data, marking another milestone as booming shale oil output forces domestic drillers to seek new customers. The Suezmax Polar Discovery loaded at the Valdez terminal in Alaska late last week and was due to arrive next week in Yeosu, South Korea, according to shipping data available on Thomson Reuters Eikon. A source at South Korea’s second-biggest refiner GS Caltex Corp said the firm would receive 800,000 barrels of Alaskan crude on October 10 after purchasing the oil on the spot market. It was the first exported cargo of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude, which is largely excluded from a 40-year U.S. ban on oil exports, since 2004. U.S. government data showed it was the first crude oil exported from the United States to South Korea since 2000, excluding a recent cargo of lightly processed condensate exported from the Gulf. The source at GS Caltex, a joint venture between GS Holdings and Chevron Corp, said the refiner bought the crude at competitive prices but did not elaborate.