Crude, Gasoline, Heating Oil Tumble on Economy: Oil Products
Crude oil, gasoline, and heating oil fell at least 6.8 percent, with crude sinking below $100 as commodities plunged the most since 2009. The declines came after U.S. jobless claims climbed, adding to concern that growth will slow, affecting fuel demand. Ethanol also declined.
The dollar advanced against the euro, reducing the appeal of dollar-priced commodities, after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said inflation risks will be watched “very closely,” signaling the ECB may wait until after June to raise rates.
Crude Oil
Crude oil for June delivery tumbled $9.44, or 8.6 percent, to $99.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price has dropped 12 percent this week, falling all four days. Crude gained 25 percent in the past year.
“We’ve got a bit of a bloodbath going on now,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading advisory company Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. “Once the ECB refused to raise rates, we saw the dollar take off and the drop in commodities accelerate.”
Gasoline
Gasoline for May delivery dropped 22.71 cents, or 6.8 percent, to $3.0954 a gallon on the Nymex, the lowest settlement in five weeks. Gasoline has increased 39 percent in a year.
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, increased 0.3 cent to $3.985 a gallon yesterday, AAA said on its website. That was the highest price since July 24, 2008. The price has gone up every day since March 21.
Heating Oil
Heating oil for May delivery fell 25.61 cents, or 8.1 percent, to $2.8869 a gallon on the Nymex. Heating oil has gained 32 percent in the past year.
Ethanol
Denatured ethanol for June delivery declined 6.2 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $2.58 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Ethanol has increased 62 percent in the past year.
Refineries and Transport
North Atlantic Refining is shutting a crude and isomax unit for work at the Come By Chance refinery in Newfoundland, Gloria Slade, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. The maintenance at the 115,000-barrel-a-day plant, owned by Korea National Oil Corp., is expected to last eight weeks, she said.
Total SA, Europe’s third-largest oil company, started a new 50,000-barrel-a-day coker project at its Port Arthur refinery in Texas that will increase the refinery’s ability to process heavy and sour crude oil, according to a company statement.
Holly Corp. (HOC) expects to return the west crude unit at its Tulsa, Oklahoma, refinery to service early next week, the company said in a quarterly earnings release.
Frontier Oil Corp.’s Cheyenne refinery in Wyoming will return to full rates this week after planned work during April, a company executive said during a conference call.
BP Plc plans to restart a second crude unit and associated downstream production units at its Texas City, Texas, refinery within a few days, according to a person familiar with the situation.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Stubbe in Houston at rstubbe1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets in New York at dstets@bloomberg.net
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