Trafigura, Plains Sign Deal To Ship Oil To Corpus Christi

NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Commodities trading house Trafigura signed a long-term agreement with Plains All American Pipeline to transport a total of 300,000 barrels of oil per day from Texas' Permian basin to the port of Corpus Christi, it said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at boosting exports.

Trafigura will transport the oil via the Cactus II Pipeline, which is scheduled to go into service in the third quarter of 2019.

The deal includes an agreement signed in July for Trafigura to receive up to 100,000 barrels of crude oil and condensate per day at Corpus Christi.

It allows Trafigura to transport crude oil from producers in the Permian basin, the largest oilfield in the United States, and deliver it to U.S. and international refining customers, the company said.

"This is one of the largest commitments of its kind to be signed in the U.S. and solidifies Trafigura’s position as a leading U.S. exporter of crude oil and refined products," said Corey Prologo, head of oil trading and director of Trafigura North America.

U.S. crude exports have surged since a decades-old ban was lifted in late 2015, with shipments hitting a record 2 million barrels a day recently.

Trafigura said the deal with Plains will also allow it to ship crude oil to its condensate splitters and export terminal in Corpus Christi, which it co-owns with Buckeye Partners L.P.

Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, and Harvest Pipeline Company entered into an agreement last month to develop a crude terminal in the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas.

The project will provide a "new waterborne outlet for the growing number of Permian barrels that are seeking access to international markets," the companies said.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Susan Thomas)