Refined Product Crack Spreads Ease as US Refiners Restart

Pressure on US crack spreads eases as most US Gulf Coast refineries have begun to restart operations disrupted by the winter storm late last week. However, a return to full capacity could take up to two weeks for some facilities.

• The freezing temperatures led to power, instrumentation and steam losses at facilities along the US Gulf Coast. The affected plants process about 3.58mbpd of oil, delivering about 20% of US motor fuels.
• Pemex’s Deer Park refinery and Motiva Enterprises’ Port Arthur, the biggest refinery in the US, could take until the first or second week of January to fully restart according to Reuters sources.
• Diesel crack spreads are easing back while gasoline remains largely unchanged after both seeing prices rally during the second half of December so far. The US diesel crack has increased from around 51$/bbl on 21 Dec and US gasoline has risen from a low of nearly 14$/bbl on 12 Dec.
  • US 321 crack down -0.6$/bbl at 32.89$/bbl
  • US gasoline crack up 0.1$/bbl at 19.99$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -2.2$/bbl at 58.43$/bbl
  • EU Gasoline-Brent up 1.2$/bbl at 5.48$/bbl
  • EU Gasoil-Brent down -1.7$/bbl at 40.87$/bbl