More cargoes of Middle East crude are moving to the U.S. as refineries in the Gulf of Mexico return from routine maintenance, adding demand for oil tankers, according to Morgan Stanley.

Bookings for tankers to carry one-time cargoes to the U.S. rose to 31 million barrels last week, the highest level since May and more than twice the weekly average this year, Fotis Giannakoulis, a New York-based analyst at the investment bank, said in an e-mailed report today. Average cargoes in the last three weeks were 30 percent higher than the preceding six weeks, he said.

“While the previous increases were primarily driven by stronger Asian demand, last week we saw a jump in the number of spot cargoes scheduled to sail toward the U.S.,” Giannakoulis said in the report. “With U.S. crude demand moving higher as Gulf of Mexico refineries return from maintenance, the Middle East is likely to become the marginal supplier, adding long-haul voyages.”

Source: Bloomberg