West Coast gasoline prices held on to highs hit Monday because of a malfunction in a Los Angeles refinery, traders said on Tuesday.
Unleaded, ethanol-blend July CARBOB in the Los Angeles market was actively traded but finished unchanged after deals at 10.75 cents and 11 cents per gallon over August NYMEX RBOB 2RBQ9. Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said operations were back to normal late Monday morning at its 150,000 barrel per day Los Angeles-area refinery in Torrance, California, after an early morning malfunction in an unidentified unit. There was minimal impact to production, a spokeswoman said. With the three-day July 4 Independence Day holiday beginning on Friday, some traders were betting on further problems in the Los Angeles market quickly tightening supply. In the San Francisco market, CARBOB for July was priced 3.5 cents under L.A. August L.A. CARBOB was up 1.5 cents in a bid-offer spread at 9.5 cents/11 cents over September NYMEX RBOB gasoline. L.A. CARB diesel fell 0.5 cent to an offer of 5.5 cents per gallon over August NYMEX heating oil 2HOQ9. Ultra-low sulfur diesel remained at 1 cent over August NYMEX heating oil in Los Angeles. In San Francisco, CARB diesel was down 1 cent at 8 cents/10 over NYMEX heating oil as exports to South America were driving the price up. Jet fuel in Los Angeles fell 1.75 cents in a sale at 5.25 cents over NYMEX heating oil. In the Portland, Oregon, market, unleaded gasoline was unchanged at 4 cents over NYMEX RBOB. Ultra-low sulfur diesel lost 1.25 cents in a sale at 5.75 cents over.
Source: news.chemnet.com
