Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline flatlines, trade thin

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E7KD3F820110913

LONDON,(Reuters) - Gasoline barge prices in
northwest Europe flatlined on Tuesday, in quiet trade, as
refining margins were pinned lower by firmer crude.
With crude prices largely driven by traders playing the
spread between Brent and U.S. crude CL-LCOc1, Olivier Jakob
said crude oil prices would have to fall to push margins up.
"Crude oil today is still mostly a Brent/WTI trade, but
margins are starting to be poor all over...Brent has to weaken
to recreate some margins both for Europe and the US Gulf (LLS),"
he said.
Trade was also quiet in the Mediterannean with a trader
saying that the market was waiting for refiners to get October
programmes next week.
However the trader said that demand from north Africa and
the Middle Eastern Gulf was making up for a lack of arbitrage to
the United States.
"The market is pretty balanced," the trader said.

GASOLINE
* There were no trades of benchmark Eurobob in the window,
but some 4,000 tonnes traded ahead of the window, with barges
changing hands at between $1004-$1005 a tonne fob ARA, at the
top end of the $1,001-$1,005 a tonne range on Monday.
* BP and Chevron sold to Gunvor, which contintued its buying
spree from the previous session.
* At 1527 GMT, Eurobob's crack to dated Brent BFO- was
down at around $5.344 a barrel after it slid to an 11 week low
of $3.806 the previous session. However it was still well below
the levels of over $11 seen last week.
* The slight recovery in the crack was helped by a slight
slip in the price of Brent crude LCOc1. It was trading around
49 cents lower at $111.76 around the same time.
* Three barges of premium unleaded gasoline changed hands at
prices between $1018 a tonne fob ARA and $1034 a tonne. Statoil
and BP were sellers while Trafigura and Total bought.
* U.S. RBOB gasoline futures RBc1 in New York were down
0.3 percent at $2.7310 a gallon.
* RBOB's crack to U.S. crude futures RB-CL1=R weakened to
$25.58 a barrel, from $27.64 a barrel on Monday, and was at its
lowest since late June.

NAPHTHA
* "There were no bids or offers in the window, let alone
trades," a broker said.
* Naphtha swaps for September delivery were trading at
$943.22 a tonne CIF NWE.
* In the previous session, Stasco made a bid at $944 a tonne
cif NWE and Gunvor made an offer at $949 a tonne cif NWE.
* Naphtha refining margins were down at about minus $6.97, a
trader said.

(Reporting by Simon Falush)

Pipeline explosion kills 100

http://www.tankstoragemag.com/industry_news.php?item_id=4026

A petrol pipeline explosion has killed more than 100 people in Nairobi, Kenya, after locals scrambled for free fuel when the pipeline began leaking.


The oil pipeline, which runs through the Sinai slum region situated between the city centre and the airport, ignited after a cigarette butt was thrown into an open sewer where the oil was collecting, reports have suggested.


Bodies were scattered up to 300m away from the blast area and some nearby shacks were burned to the ground in the blaze.


According to BBC reports, bodies were also seen floating in a nearby river after those burned tried to douse themselves after catching on fire.

U.S. Refinery Status: Marathon Petroleum Catlettsburg FCCU Restarted

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/09/13/us-refinery-status-marathon-petroleum-catlettsburg-fccu-restarted/
The following table lists unplanned and planned production outages at U.S. refineries as reported by Dow Jones Newswires. The information is compiled from both official and unofficial refining sources and doesn't purport to be a comprehensive list.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) said Sept. 12 it successfully restarted the FCCU at the company's 210,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Catlettsburg, Ken., during the weekend. The unit had been down after a fire on Aug. 17.

Total shut down a crude distillation unit over the weekend at its 232,00 barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, traders said Sept. 12. The company planned the unit to be back up within the week, traders said.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) on Sep. 12 said planned work at its joint venture refinery in Chalmette, La., caused emissions at the sulfur plant on Sep. 11. The work is expected to continue for less than two weeks and is not expected to impact production.

PBF Energy's 193,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Delaware City, Del., experienced an emissions release of sulfur dioxide on Sep. 9 due to maintenance at the plant's hydrocracking unit, not the key gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit as had been reported to state regulators. The company declined to estimate when the unit would restart.

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) said on Sep. 9 maintenance at a hydrocracker unit at its oil refinery in Benicia, Calif., had no material impact to production. The work resulted in a release of sulfur dioxide to the plant's safety flare system, according to a filing to the California Emergency Management Agency earlier on Sep. 9.

Tesoro Corp. (TSO) on Sep. 9 said its Los Angeles-area refinery in Wilmington, Calif. was ramping towards targeted rates following an off-site power interruption the day before.

For more detailed information, search Dow Jones Newswires using the code N/REF. Operator Refinery Capacity Description Restart (in 000s bbl/day) UNPLANNED CANADA CARIBBEAN EAST COAST PBF Delaware 193.0 FCCU snag on Sep. 9 results in Energy City, DE emissions; status of unit un- clear. GULF COAST Conoco Belle Chasse 247.0 Equipment malfunction occurred on Phillips La. Sep. 4 while refinery was opera- ting at very low rates due to Tropical Storm Lee. No details were provided. Flint Corpus 300.0 Second power disruption in as Hills Christi, TX many days shut West Refinery on Sep. 4. On Sep. 3 the Mid-Plant Complex and an SRU resumed nor- mal operations after a brief power snag. Total Port Arthur 232.0 Refinery resumed normal rates TX on Sep. 7 after early-day up- set at sulfur recovery area. MIDWEST Exxon Channahon 268.0 Power failure on Sep. 3 causes Mobil IL emissions and flaring; impact on production unclear. ROCKIES Sinclair Sinclair 74.0 Refinery at reduced rates fol- WY lowing fires at CDU on Sep. 3 and Sep. 4. Repairs and damage assessments underway, the co. said on Sep.6. Exxon Billings, 60.0 Production at minimum rates due MT to ruptured Silvertip Pipeline. Company looking for alternative crude sources, the co. said on July 5. WEST COAST Tesoro Wilmington 92.0 Refinery returning to targeted rates on Sep. 9 following an off-site power outage the day before. PLANNED CANADA CARIBBEAN EAST COAST Sunoco Philadelphia 335.0 Refineries up for sale on Marcus Hook 190.0 Sep. 6; process units will be shuttered in July 2012 if no buyer is found. GULF COAST Alon Big Spring 67.0 FCCU turnaround maintenance under- TX way, a filing to environmental reg- ulators made public on July 24 said. Exxon Chalmette 192.5 Planned maintenance started Sep. Mobil LA 11 at sulfur plant; emissions re- ported to NRC. Work will end in less than 2 weeks with no impact on to production expected, to co. said on Sep. 12. Motiva Port Arthur 285.0 Expansion project to increase 1Q TX throughput capacity by 325,000 2012 b/d, to 610,000-b/d, slowed. Completion now seen 1Q 2012, from 2010. Valero Corpus 315.0 Crude & coker unit turnaround Oct. Christi, TX to start in Oct. for three 2011 weeks. Valero McKee TX 170.0 Crude Unit and FCCU to undergo 3Q 2011 turnaround maintenance for six weeks starting in Oct. 2011, the co. said on July 26. Vacuum unit turnaround planned for first half of 2012, co. said. Expansion project announced March 2011 to increase crude oil throughput by 25,000 b/d to 195,000 b/d. Valero Norco, LA 185.0 Hydrocracker project will pro- 2013 ceed and be completed in late 2013, the co. said on 7/27/10. Upgrade project to build 2012 a new diesel hydrotreater unit moved from 2010 to 4Q 2012. Valero Port Arthur 325.0 Hydrocracker project will pro- 2012 TX ceed and be completed in late 2012. MIDWEST BP Whiting, IN 405.0 Turnaround at Pipestill 12 de- layed by 3 months; it was sup- posed to begin in November, a source said on Mar 25. Cenovus Roxana, IL 306.0 Coker and refinery expansion Q4 2011 (Conoco/WRB) project on track for comple- tion 4th Q 2011, the co. said on July 26, 2011. CVR Coffeyville 115.7 Periodic turnaround will take 2012 KS place in two phases beginning in Fall 2011 and completed in Spring 2012. Husky Lima, OH 160.0 15-day isocracker maintenance to Energy replace reactor catalyst will be- gin in 3rd Q 2011. Refinery will operate at 90% of capacity during that time. 15-days of maintenance planned Autumn at aromatics unit in the fall 2012 of 2012. Husky Toledo, OH 140.0 Isocracker maintenance and gen- Energy eral maintenance for 38 days will commence in Q3 2011, the Co. said on July 28. Minor maintenance planned in 4Q 2011, the co. said on July 28; no details provided. Tesoro Mandan, ND 58.0 Total crude-oil processing capa- 2nd Q city to increase by 17% to 68,000 2012 b/d by 2nd quarter 2012. WEST COAST

Copyright © 2011 Dow Jones Newswires

Nigeria Bonny oil sales for September, October to Be Delayed

Nigerian benchmark Bonny Light crude for export in September and October will be delayed by as many as 17 days, a revised loading program obtained by Bloomberg News showed, after Royal Dutch Shell Plc declared force majeure.

Three shipments will be deferred to October from September, and two to November from October, the plan showed. One extra shipment was added to the October plan, while two were dropped.
As a result, exports for September will be reduced to three cargoes from six, while October shipments will be unchanged at eight lots, according to the schedule. All consignments are 950,000 barrels each.

The changes in programs came after Shell’s Nigerian unit declared force majeure on its Bonny Light crude exports on Aug. 23 after several pipeline attacks. Force majeure is a legal clause that allows a company to miss scheduled deliveries because of circumstances beyond its control.

Exports of 18 main grades from Nigeria for October were raised to 69 cargoes totaling 2.07 million barrels a day, from 2.04 million barrels a day originally planned, according to the plan. September shipments were revised to 2.06 million barrels a day from 2.23 million barrels.

Loading programs are monthly schedules of crude shipments compiled by field operators to allow buyers and sellers to plan their supply and trading activities.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sherry Su in London at lsu23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
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NYMEX-Crude ends at 5-week high; eyes data, weather

NYMEX-Crude ends at 5-week high; eyes data, weather

* U.S. Gulf disturbance may become cyclone in 48 hours-NHC * U.S. crude inventories seen lower last week - poll * Coming up: API oil data, 4:30 p.m. EDT, Wednesday NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures


rebounded sharply on Wednesday, ending at a five-week high on

forecasts that inventory data would show a drawdown in crude

stocks last week and concerns that more stormy weather could

hit the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The dollar fell as appetite returned for riskier assets,

and Wall Street rallied after three days of losses as Europe's

debt concerns eased. Both were supportive for crude oil

futures, traders said. U.S. crude stockpiles may have fallen 1.9 million barrels

last week, a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts showed ahead

of weekly inventory reports. Distillate stocks were forecast 600,000 barrels lower and

gasoline stocks were projected down 2.0 million barrels.

[EIA/S] Tropical Storm Maria formed in the Atlantic while Hurricane

Katia churned up the surf along the beaches of Bermuda and the

eastern United States, the U.S. National Hurricane Center

said. More important to the oil industry, however, was a new

disturbance located in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. NHC

forecasters gave it a 60 percent chance of developing into a

tropical cyclone in the next few days. Computer models projecting its path varied widely. Some

took it west over Mexico while at least one model took it

northeast toward the Louisiana-Mississippi coast. At least 516,451 barrels per day, or 36.9 percent, of U.S.

oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remained offline as of

midday Wednesday after Tropical Storm Lee, down from 60.5

percent shut on Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management said. Some 958.4 million cubic feet per day of natural gas

output, or 18.1 percent, remained shut in, down from 41.6

percent on Tuesday, the agency said.

FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October

delivery CLV1 settled at $89.34 a barrel, rising $3.32, or

3.86 percent, the highest close since Aug. 3's $91.93 on a

continuous price chart. The day's gain was the the biggest

one-day percentage rise since Aug. 10, when prices rose 4.53

percent. The contract traded from $86.15 to $89.74. * U.S. crude's discount against Brent crude narrowed to

$26.46 at the close, from $26.87 on Tuesday.

* U.S. retail gasoline demand fell last week by 4.2 percent

year-on-year and 5.9 percent versus the previous week,

MasterCard said in a weekly report.

* The U.S. Energy Information Administration left its 2011

world oil demand growth unchanged in its monthly forecast and

cut its 2012 oil demand growth estimate by 250,000 bpd to 1.39

million barrels per day.

* Mexico's largest oil refinery shut down on Tuesday after

a power outage but Pemex said it expected operations

to resume by the end of the day.

* Iran has been importing four to five cargoes of gasoline

per month, with most of it supplied by China.

* Libya's new leaders sent envoys to neighboring Niger to

try to prevent Muammar Gaddafi and his entourage evading

justice by fleeing across a desert frontier toward friendly

African states.

* Led by financial stocks, Wall Street rallied after a

three-day losing streak as Germany's top court smoothed the way

for Berlin's participation in bailout packages that could ease

Europe's debt crisis.

* In late trading, the U.S. dollar was down 0.6 percent

against a basket of major currencies. .DXY The euro rallied

as worries about euro zone sovereign debt abated.

* Copper ended nearly 2 percent higher, snapping four days

of losses, as global stock markets rose amid labor disputes at

some big mines.

* Gold fell as much as 4 percent as investors pulled money

from the safe haven to put them in equities, after the German

court ruling. UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS

* U.S. weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT),

Thursday.

* U.S. Energy Information Administration oil inventory data

at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday. SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL

CLc1 89.34 3.32 3.9% 86.15 89.74 284,820 316,166

CLc2 89.55 3.24 3.8% 86.45 89.94 91,467 63,604

LCOc1 115.80 2.91 2.6% 112.70 116.03 188,151 188,944

RBc1 2.9080 0.0854 3.0% 2.8210 2.9103 31,857 56,161

RBc2 2.8606 0.0818 2.9% 2.7789 2.8623 21,389 30,885

HOc1 3.0756 0.0654 2.2% 3.0096 3.0786 38,281 64,524

HOc2 3.0856 0.0658 2.2% 3.0194 3.0887 19,465 17,503

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME OPEN INTEREST CURRENT Sep 06 30D AVG Sep 06 NET CHNG

CRUDE 575,408 547,932 694,929 1,523,907 -335

RBOB 80,436 119,518 120,141 252,892 1,647

HO 87,718 117,448 119,362 305,373 -3,449

(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons)

Gunvor Buys Europe Gasoline Barges; Gasoil Falls: Oil Products

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-02/gunvor-buys-europe-gasoline-barges-gasoil-falls-oil-products.html

By Nidaa Bakhsh -

Gunvor Group Ltd. and Trafigura Beheer BV were the main buyers of gasoline barges in northwest Europe. The motor fuel’s crack, or premium to Brent crude, increased.

Gasoil traded on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange dropped as Brent fell. The heating fuel’s crack narrowed. Ineos Group Holdings Plc flared gases at its Cologne chemicals plant in Germany as it shut cracker 4 for maintenance.

Light Products
Eurobob gasoline for immediate loading in Amsterdam- Rotterdam-Antwerp traded from $1,062 to $1,068 a metric ton, according to a survey of traders and brokers monitoring the Argus Bulletin Board. That compares with yesterday’s trades from $1,054 to $1,083 a ton.

Gunvor SA, the trading arm of Gunvor Group, bought 8,000 of the 15,000 tons that changed hands. Trafigura purchased 4,000 tons. Mabanaft BV and Statoil ASA were the main sellers. The trades are typically for 1,000 tons or 2,000 tons. Ethanol is added to the Eurobob grade to make finished motor fuel.

Gasoline’s crack expanded to $5.71 a barrel from $5.60 yesterday, according to PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a crude and refined products broker in London.

Naphtha’s discount to Brent widened 2 cents to $4.32 a barrel, according to PVM.

Middle Distillates
Gasoil for September dropped 1.2 percent to $955 a ton as of 12:06 p.m. London time on the ICE exchange. The more-actively traded October contract fell 1.1 percent to $953.50 a ton. Front month Brent declined 0.6 percent to $113.56 a barrel.

The narrowing of the backwardation between September and October gasoil may be attributed to increased supplies. The spread is at $1.50 a ton, down from $6 at the beginning of the week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Backwardation refers to later-dated material being cheaper than near-term delivery.

“We have argued for quite some time that the strongly backwardated market structure would be short-lived as supplies increase on the back of comparatively high refinery runs and material coming in from markets East of Suez,” JBC Energy GmbH, a Vienna-based researcher, said today in a note.

Gasoil’s crack, a measure of refining profitability, narrowed to $14.44 a barrel from $14.67 yesterday, according to ICE data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nidaa Bakhsh in London at nbakhsh@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

Russian oil firm ships diesel to Libya rebels

Russian oil trading company Gunvor Group Ltd. says it is sending a cargo of diesel fuel to the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi for use in power generators. Gunvor says its Geneva-based trading arm is supplying the unspecified amount of diesel to the rebel-controlled Arabian Gulf Oil Co., or Agoco. In a statement Wednesday, Gunvor cited an unidentified Agoco official saying the fuel would help prevent electricity blackouts. Oil production in Libya has largely stopped since fighting broke out between anti-government rebels and the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.