A shipment of Alaska North Slope crude is making a rare voyage across the Pacific Ocean to South Korea, according to cFlow, Platts trade flow software.

The Bahamian-flagged Suezmax, Tianlong Spirit, which was chartered by BP, first entered Valdez, Alaska, on July 28 and set sail on Saturday. On Monday, the tanker was located in the North Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska.

The ship’s destination is listed as Gwangyang, South Korea, and it is set to arrive there around August 12, according to cFlow data.

A BP spokeswoman declined to comment on the individual cargo or the destination of the tanker Monday. However, in July she confirmed that the company had chartered the Tianlong Spirit to move ANS out of Valdez.

Shifts in global crude benchmark spreads have made it feasible to export crude to Asian markets. Aribitrage opportunities are created with a narrowing of the WTI-Dubai crude swaps spread. The WTI-Dubai swaps spread has been narrowing over the past month.

However, some traders and industry analysts were surprised about the ANS shipment to Asia, noting that despite a narrower WTI/Dubai spread, the economics still are not optimal for exports.

WTI is at a premium to Dubai-based crude, a position it has held for several months. The front-month WTI-Dubai swaps spread averaged $2.74/b in July. WTI has not traded at a discount to Dubai since February 22.