Canadian light crude flows to Europe in rare arbitrage -trade

GENEVA/LONDON Jan 22 (Reuters) - Light sweet Canadian offshore crude has arrived in Northwest Europe in a rare arbitrage movement as the U.S. shale oil boom edges out Canadian oil, which must seek alternative markets, traders and shipping sources said.

A 1 million barrel cargo of Canadian light sweet Hibernia has been booked for Valero's Pembroke refinery loading Jan. 23-24, the sources said.

In late December to early January, the tankers Overseas Acadia and Value discharged 600,000 barrels each of Canadian sweet crude at the Birkenhead port in Liverpool on Britain's east coast, the sources said and Reuters AIS Live ship tracking showed.

The Birkenhead terminal is connected to the Stanlow refinery, owned by India's Essar. A company spokesman declined to confirm these precise shipments but said Stanlow had previously taken Canadian oil.