* Gulf gasoline shrugs off Motiva’s hydrocracker snag
* Chicago markets ignore Exxon Joliet refinery problem
* Harbor heating oil retreats into negative territory
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline seesawed on Tuesday,
falling late in the day on pipeline scheduling after rising earlier on news of a
shut hydrocracker at a Louisiana refinery, traders said.
By day’s end, M2 conventional gasoline settled down 2.00 cents per gallon at
14.00 cents under the New York Mercantile Exchange’s May RBOB futures contract
as its latest five-day lifting cycle scheduled to move on the Colonial Pipeline,
traders said.
Motiva Enterprises late Monday reported a hydrocracker shutdown at its
234,700 barrels-per-day refinery in Norco, Louisiana, that boosted the M2 market
by half a cent. Motiva is a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and
Saudi Aramco.
Gulf Coast ultra-low sulfur diesel also slipped late on pipeline scheduling,
falling by 1.25 cents to 6.25 cents over the May NYMEX heating oil futures
contract.
Gulf jet fuel slipped by 0.75 cent to 9.50 cents under, paring the prior
day’s gains.
An unspecified unit shutdown at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 238,000 bpd
refinery in Joliet, Illinois, did little to stem the losses in the Chicago
refined products markets, traders said.
Chicago ULSD fell by 7.50 cents to 30.00 cents under, paring this week’s
gains to match Friday’s levels, while Chicago gasoline slipped by 3.00 cents to
13.00 cents under, traders said.
Group Three gasoline climbed by 2.00 to 22.25 cents under, more than
reversing Monday’s decline. Group Three ULSD held steady at 3.75 cents over.
The New York Harbor heating oil market dropped back into negative territory
after Monday’s 3.25 cent rally, as sellers tried to capitalize on the stronger
differential, traders said.
Prompt heating oil was offered at 0.50 cent under and bid at 1.00 cent under
after getting done as high as 1.25 cent over on Monday.
Prompt ULSD echoed heating oil’s move lower, losing a half cent, and was
called 8.00/8.50 cents over.
Prompt jet fuel inched higher on airline demand and was pegged at
11.00/11.50 cents over, up a quarter cent.
Harbor gasoline markets came under pressure from an abundance of imported
cargoes on offer in the region, traders said. RBOB, CBOB and M2 conventional
gasoline grades were weaker across the board as more barrels were on offer.
Prompt M2 conventional gasoline fell 0.50 cent to either side of 3.50 cents
under, while prompt F2 RBOB was done at 1.25 and 1.00 cents over, down 0.50
cent. Prompt CBOB was pegged at 5.50 cents under, down 0.35 cent from Monday’s
settlement.
Ratable May F2 RBOB was done a couple of times at 4.25 cents over June RBOB
futures, while ratable June F2 RBOB was talked at 3.50/3.75 cents over July RBOB
futures.
For more refinery news, please go to
Latest
day
Timing NYMEX Bid Offer Change
Contract
U.S. GULF COAST * Scheduling
M2 conventional gasoline * Cycle 23 MAY RBOB -12.25 -11.75 2.50
61-grade ULSD * Cycle 22 MAY HO 7.25 7.75 0.25
54-grade jet fuel Cycle 23 MAY HO 9.75 10.50 1.75
Heating oil Cycle 23 MAY HO -2.00 -1.50 0.00
NEW YORK HARBOR
M2 conventional gasoline Prompt MAY RBOB -3.25 -2.75 0.00
Any-Month MAY RBOB -5.75 -5.25 0.00
F2 RBOB Prompt MAY RBOB 1.25 1.75 5.75
Any-Month MAY RBOB 1.00 1.50 -0.25
ULSD Prompt MAY HO 8.25 9.00 -0.75
Any-Month MAY HO 8.25 8.75 0.00
Heating oil Prompt MAY HO 1.25 1.75 3.25
Any-Month MAY HO -0.25 0.25 0.25
Jet fuel Prompt MAY HO 10.75 11.25 0.25
Any-Month MAY HO 10.75 11.25 0.25
MIDWEST
Chicago gasoline Cycle 3 MAY RBOB -11.00 -9.00 11.00
Chicago ULSD Cycle 3 MAY RBOB -23.00 -22.00 7.50
Group Three gasoline MAY HO -25.00 -24.00 -1.00
Group Three ULSD MAY HO 3.00 4.00 0.50
