California-Blend Gasoline Falls a Second Day After Supplies Grow

California-blend gasoline slipped for a second day after Tesoro Corp. (TSO) started a hydrogen plant at the Golden Eagle (TEMTCRUD) refinery and the state Energy Commission said motor gasoline inventories jumped 14 percent last week.

Tesoro started the No. 2 hydrogen plant at the 170,000- barrel-a-day plant near Martinez, California, yesterday following two other unit startups March 2 and Feb. 23, county regulators said. California gasoline inventories rose for the first time in three weeks, by 976,000 barrels to 7.98 million, in the week ended March 2 from a week earlier, the state said.

Carbob in San Francisco (MOGSD85P) dropped 1 cent to a premium of 17 cents a gallon against gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The same fuel in Los Angeles (MOGLDB85) declined 0.5 cent to a 20.5-cent premium versus futures.

Units at Tesoro’s Golden Eagle refinery “continue to undergo planned maintenance” that began in January, Tina Barbee, a spokeswoman at the company’s headquarters in San Antonio, said in an e-mail today. Tesoro doesn’t expect the work to affect commitments to customers, she said.

Gasoline supplies on the U.S. West Coast rose 1.8 percent to 31.2 million barrels in the week ended March 2, the Energy Department said today.

California-blend diesel, or CARB diesel, in Los Angeles (DIEILCAD) fell for the first time in seven days, by 0.5 cent to a 20-cent premium against Nymex heating oil futures. The same fuel in San Francisco (DIEISCAD) dropped 2 cents to a premium of 18 cents versus heating oil futures.

Jet fuel in Los Angeles rose for the sixth straight day, gaining 0.25 cent to a premium of 16 cents against Nymex heating oil futures, the highest level since May 20.

Conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Portland (MOGHD87P), Oregon, weakened 1 cent to a discount of 13.5 cents a gallon against gasoline futures.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Doan in San Francisco at ldoan6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net