U.S. Gulf Coast Gasoline Gains on BP Texas City Refinery

Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened for the first time in four days on speculation the region’s supplies will shrink after BP Plc shut a unit at its Texas City refinery.

A fire in a section of a residual hydrotreater at the site yesterday resulted in a shutdown of the unit, the company reported. With the capacity to process 475,000 barrels a day, BP’s Texas City plant is the fourth-largest refinery in the Gulf Coast.

Supplies in the region fell by 1.39 million barrels to 69 million in the week ended Oct. 19, the biggest drop since Sept. 7, the Energy Department reported Oct. 24. Total U.S. stockpiles of motor fuel are forecast to increase 175,000 barrels in the seven-day period ending Oct. 26, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Reformulated gasoline to be blended with ethanol on the Gulf Coast gained 5.5 cents to trade at a discount of 15 cents a gallon versus futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:22 p.m., the biggest advance since Sept. 25, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel declined by 0.02 cent to 3.75 cents below heating oil futures.

A diesel hydrotreater unit is down at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Baytown, Texas, refinery, the third-largest refinery in the Gulf Coast, while the Chalmette, Louisiana, facility undergoes work on an undisclosed unit, the company said Oct. 26. Together, the plants can process 784,700 barrels a day, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harvey in New York at charvey32@bloomberg.net

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