RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:climb that isNot quite sure what you mean when you say the Saudi's have pretty much lost the US market.
Saudi Aramco and Shell have a 50-50 joint venture in the US called Motiva Enterprise with a total refining capacity of 1075 kb/d.
Motiva Enterprises owns and operates three oil refineries in the United States: a 600,000 bbl/d refinery in Port Arthur Texas a 235,000 bbl/d refinery in Convent Louisiana and a 240,000 bbl/d refinery in Norco Louisiana. On May 25th, 2012, Motiva officially completed its expansion of the Port Arthur refinery to a capacity of 600,000 bbl/d making it the largest refinery in North America and the fifth largest in the world.
As of October 14, the latest data from the IEA shows the following exports by SA into the US.
Saudi Light and Extra Light: 670 kb/d
Saudi Medium: 200 kb/d
Total: 870 kb/d
Since it’s their own refinery, they have the capability of exporting more or less crude into the US, as they please.
Namsoc