Storage broker: Global IT outage of July caused California fuel storage problems
Storage broker The Tank Tiger said this week that the CrowdStrike IT failure last month, which grounded scores of flights, created new problems in California's fuel markets. U.S. traders were forced to store jet fuel bound for California on waterborne tanks, forcing them to store fuel for California on tankers. The Californian policies to end fossil fuel use have made it difficult to set up new oil and gas pipelines. The Tank Tiger, a clearinghouse for terminal storage in the United States, said that there was no space in California to store petroleum products. California is a major oil trading hub on the U.S. West Coast, which keeps demand high.
Oil Traders Chase Storage Space in World Awash with Fuel
Oil traders are struggling to find enough ships, railcars, caverns and pipelines to store fuel as more conventional storage facilities fill up amid abundant supply and plummeting demand due to the coronavirus crisis.Dozens of oil tanker vessels have been booked in recent days to store at least 30 million barrels of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel at sea, acting as floating storage, as on-land tanks are full or already booked, according to traders and shipping data.That adds to about 130 million barrels of crude already in floating storage, traders…
A New York State of Mind
“A new industry is being established in New York, with the primary stimulus being a state-driven procurement process.”New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), July 12, 2018.To a great extent, this PSC comment provides direct insight into the dynamics behind New York’s pace-setting moves to establish offshore wind. First, this new energy development is deliberate – not left to chance or laissez faire markets. Second, state officials are in control, from choosing a contractor to securing money for payment. Third, state utility commissions act on projects.To that end…
Argus Adds New Marine Fuel Price Assessments
Oil price reporting agency Argus has launched five new price assessments for low-sulphur marine fuels, ahead of new global rules capping the amount of sulphur in marine fuels, also known as bunkers.International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations will cut the limit for sulphur in bunker fuels globally from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from the start of 2020."Argus is pleased to be taking the lead in bringing price transparency that enables this large and emerging oil market to advance trading in preparation for the IMO 2020 required fuels,"…
Saudi Refinery Exports First Gasoline Barrels to U.S.
A refinery in Saudi Arabia has shipped its RBOB gasoline to the United States for the first time, a potential precursor for more deliveries to a region where prices are currently at seasonal three-year highs.The 400,000 barrels-per-day Jubail Satorp refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and French company Total, said in its verified Twitter account that it sent the shipment of reformulated blendstock gasoline - commonly called RBOB - to the United States. It did not say whether those barrels had arrived yet, and its exact destination was unclear.The shipment is unusual because when Satorp was founded in 2008…
ETP finds Philadelphia-area Pipeline is Source of Gasoline Leak
Energy Transfer Partners LP has found that its 12-inch, Philadelphia-area pipeline was the source of a gasoline leak discovered last month in a nearby creek, the company told Reuters on Tuesday. ETP on June 22 shut the 12-inch pipeline, in addition to an eight-inch pipeline in the area, as a precaution. The lines help carry refined products from the region's refineries to New York Harbor and Western Pennsylvania. The company reopened the eight-inch line on June 25, but the larger line remained shut as the company investigated. ETP has since replaced a section of the 12-inch pipeline and returned the line to service, the company said on Tuesday.
ETP Reopens one of two Philadelphia Area Product Pipelines
Energy Transfer Partners LP reopened the smaller of two Philadelphia area pipelines that help carry refined products from the region's refineries to the New York Harbor and Western Pennsylvania but the larger of the two remained shut, the company said in a customer notice seen by Reuters. The two lines, 8-inch and 12-inch in size, were shut on Friday as a precaution after gasoline was discovered in a creek outside of Philadelphia. ETP said on Friday it was still trying to determine whether the leak came from its pipelines, and did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Fleet Storing Gasoline off Europe's Coast Growing
Gasoline stored in ships off Europe's coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent's traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts. Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe's ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to four weeks as the volumes traded in Europe hit record levels last month. The tankers Torm Tevere, Ridgebury John B and STI Clapham are now parked off Europe's Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, where on-land stocks hit a record 1.387 million tonnes last week, according to figures from PJK International.
Winter Storm Threatens U.S. East Coast Energy Industry
The U.S. energy industry braced for a major test to refineries and power plants as an intense winter storm roared up the Atlantic Coast, bringing heavy snowfall and high winds to a region already beset with several days of extreme cold. The storm is the product of a rapid and rare sharp drop in barometric pressure known as bombogenesis, or bomb cyclone. Heavy snow pounded the East Coast along a front stretching from Maine as far south as North Carolina early on Thursday, knocking out power, icing over roadways and closing hundreds of schools. Prices for heating oil <HO-NYH> <HO-DIFF-NYH> and natural gas in the U.S.
Colonial Pipeline Demand at 2-Month Nadir
Demand to ship gasoline on Colonial Pipeline has sunk to a two-month low as Gulf Coast supplies are increasingly being exported or sent to the Midwest rather than to the New York harbor, three sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Colonial Pipeline Co, the largest U.S. fuel network, has consistently allocated space for at least the past two months, meaning demand has exceeded capacity on the pipeline. But it would not ration space on its main gasoline line for the next five-day shipping cycle, known as "Cycle 2," the sources said, which suggests lower demand. Colonial spokeswoman Malesia Dunn said the company does not speculate on rumors.
Fuel Shortages from Harvey to Hamper Labor Day Travel
Travelers and fuel suppliers across the United States braced for higher prices and shortages ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend as the country's biggest fuel pipelines and refineries curb operations after Hurricane Harvey. Just six days after Harvey slammed into the heart of the U.S. energy industry in Texas, the effects are being felt not just in Houston, but also in Chicago and New York, and prices at the pump nationwide have hit a high for the year. Supply shortages have developed even though there are nearly a quarter of a billion barrels of gasoline stockpiled in the United States.
Demand to Ship Gasoline on Top US Pipeline at 6-yr Low
The operator of the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline system said on Thursday demand to transport gasoline to the country's populous northeast is the weakest in six years, the latest symptom of a global oil market grappling with oversupply. Summer is typically when gasoline demand peaks in the world's biggest oil consuming country as motorists hit the road for vacation, and keeping their gas tanks full strains the capacity of U.S. refiners and pipelines. This year, so much fuel is stored in tanks in the Northeast that Colonial Pipeline Co said in a notice…
PA Pipeline Spat Could Upend International Oil Flows
Refiners from the Midwest United States are fighting for access to a vital Pennsylvania pipeline – a move that could cripple their East Coast competitors and redraw the map for international flows of crude and fuel into coveted coastal markets. The regulatory dispute centers on a proposal by pipeline operator Buckeye Partners’ to that state's Public Utilities Commission. The plan would reverse the flow of fuels on a section of Buckeye’s 350-mile Laurel Pipeline, which currently flows from the East Coast to Pittsburgh. Because pipelines only flow in one direction…
Weak Gasoline Prices Prompts US-bound Tanker to Alter Course
A tanker of gasoline en route to New York Harbor from Europe has been diverted to a Caribbean storage hub because a narrow window of opportunity for shipping profitably to the U.S. East Coast appears to have shut, traders said. At least 16 tankers carrying some 600,000 tonnes of gasoline blending components were booked early in April to send fuel from Europe to the East Coast. Since, a Long-Range 2 (LR2) vessel AMOREA, floating offshore carrying summer-grade RBOB gasoline, known as F2-grade, set sail to New York. An LR2 going to New York was uncommon to begin with…
U.S. East Coast Refiners Profit on Winter Gasoline
The U.S. East Coast gasoline market looks set to begin the summer driving season with fewer barrels in storage than last year, as refiners have been profiting by producing winter grade gasoline longer than usual, trading sources said. Traders said the additional production of winter grade came because the price of butane <BUT-USG>, a key blending component for winter gasoline, has nearly halved in two months. That spurred traders and refiners to make more of the higher-volatility fuel that cannot be used in the summer. U.S. gasoline futures crack spreads <RBc1-CLc1>…
Colonial Pipeline Shuts Stubline to Nashville on Suspected Leak
Colonial Pipeline Co's gasoline line between Atlanta and Nashville, called Line 19, remained shut on Monday after it was closed on Sunday after a possible spill, a company spokeswoman said on Monday. The line was initially shut after gasoline odors were reported to the Chattanooga Fire Department, the pipeline said in a notice to shippers on Sunday. It had since restarted Line 20, a distillates line, which was also shut as a precaution. Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined products system in the U.S., can carry more than 3 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel between the U.S. Gulf Coast and the New York Harbor area.
European Gasoline arb to U.S. East Coast Widens
U.S. gasoline prices recently soared to multiyear seasonal highs over European prices, setting the stage for more imports from across the Atlantic, but high freight costs mean not everyone will be able to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity. The difference between benchmark RBOB U.S. gasoline and benchmark Eurobob gasoline <EUROBOB-ARA> prices hit their widest for this time of year in at least six years late in December. After about a year of oversupply on the U.S. East Coast, inventories are falling in line with historic averages. In addition, a spate of refinery outages and stronger crude prices has helped boost gasoline prices, traders said.
Colonial Pipeline Restarted Line 1 on Sunday
Colonial Pipeline said Line 1 began shipping gasoline between Houston and Linden, New Jersey, on Sunday morning for the first time since a deadly Oct. 31 explosion and fire near Helena, Alabama. The outage of Line 1, which can carry 1.3 million barrels of gasoline daily from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the New York area roiled wholesale gasoline markets all week and boosted retail prices across the southeastern United States. In a statement posted on a company website on Sunday, Colonial said it would take three days following the restart for gasoline shipments to begin arriving at the Linden terminal.
U.S. Safety Board opens probe into Colonial pipeline accident
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday it had opened an investigation into the Colonial Pipeline Co accident in Helena, Alabama, which killed one worker and seriously injured four others. Colonial's gasoline pipeline ruptured on Monday during routine maintenance operations. The company said Friday it expects to restart the pipeline on Sunday afternoon. A team of five NTSB investigators arrived Thursday and will be in Alabama for several days conducting interviews, documenting the accident site and collecting evidence. Investigators will also visit the Colonial Pipeline offices in Alpharetta…
Colonial Pipeline Could Reopen Gasoline Line by Saturday
Excavator hit line on Monday, triggering explosion; gasoline off highs as Colonial does not expect long outage. A major gasoline pipeline that is a crucial supply source for the U.S. East Coast could reopen as early as Saturday after an explosion in Alabama killed one worker and injured five others, Colonial Pipeline Co said on Tuesday. The blast on Monday occurred several miles from its biggest gasoline spill in nearly two decades in September. That spill caused a 12-day interruption in the flow of about 1.3 million barrels per day of the fuel from the refining hub on the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.
