Some U.S. Gulf Coast refiners have recently paid prices over the Brentcrude benchmark for Trinidad and Tobago's Molo heavy sour crude, the CEO of the country's state-owned oil company, Heritage Petroleum, said on Tuesday.

Lower availability of several popular Latin American heavy crude grades since last year, including regional benchmark Maya from Mexico and Merey from Venezuela, coupled with prolonged output cuts by OPEC+ members, has driven some U.S. refining firms to pay more to secure other grades.

Trinidad and Tobago is a marginal crude supplier to the Gulf Coast, but exports have ramped up in recent months. Last year, the U.S. imported some 44,000 barrels per day of Trinidadian crude versus 36,000 bpd in 2023, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

"We trade sometimes at a slight premium to Brent as the mix of crude we have is in fairly high demand, especially in the Gulf Coast of the U.S.," Heritage CEO Erik Keskula told Reuters on the sidelines of Trinidad's Energy Conference.

Heritage will continue marketing cargoes to several U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to promote competition, leading to firm prices in that region, Keskula said.