A Japanese gasoline cargo recently arrived in Anacortes, Washington, the first time such a 

shipment  has  arrived  in  th  state  since  at  least  summer 2015, when S&P Global Platts 

Analytics started compiling US Customs data of such imports. 

US West Coast market sources Monday chalked up this atypical journey to seasonal repair 

work underway at Pacific Northwest refineries in the US and Canada. 

According to the Customs data, the clean tanker Orchid Express brought 78,000 barrels of 

gasoline from Kashima, Japan, to Anacortes on March 30. Shell was listed as the consigne

e while JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy of Japan was listed as the shipper. 

Data from cFlow, S&P Global Platts' ship-tracking software, confirms the Orchid Express mad

e  this  trans-Pacific  voyage. The vessel is currently sitting near San Francisco, cFlow data 

showed. 

While it is highly unusual for Asian gasoline to make its way into Washington, it is not unprecedented. The Customs data show that, most recently, gasoline was sent from South Korea to Bellingham on April 26, 2017. 

The same data shows that is far more common for gasoline to travel from Vancouver, British 

Columbia,  into  Washington.  In  January, more than 180,000 barrels of gasoline made this 

journey, with the Canadian  division  of Parkland Fuels listed as the shipper for all of these 

barrels. 

But  with  Parkland  Fuel's  Burnaby  refinery, near Vancouver, now in the midst of seasonal 

turnarounds, the Customs data shows no Canadian gasoline has entered Washington since 

the end of January. 

Platts  refinery  data  shows  the  Parkland  refinery  was taken offline in early February for 

seasonal turnaround work. A Parkland Fuels spokesman said those repairs were "ongoing" 

and "near completion." 

Additionally, Platts refinery data show that Andeavor's 120,000 b/d refinery in Anacortes is 

scheduled  for  planned  seasonal  repairs  from  April  4  through  May 10. Mathew Gill, an 

Andeavor spokesman, did not immediately reply to an email from Platts seeking comment o

n the details of those turnarounds.