New York Gasoline Falls as Supplies Rise to 9-Month High

Gasoline weakened for the first time in four days in the New York Harbor as inventories of motor fuel in the region reached a nine-month high.

Stockpiles of gasoline in the Central Atlantic area including the New York Harbor, which is known as PADD 1B, gained 1.82 million barrels to 28.8 million in the week ended Jan. 18, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an agency of the Energy Department.

Supplies rose for a fifth consecutive week as the region’s refinery activity hovered at the highest seasonal level in four years and nationwide demand for gasoline increased. U.S. East Coast refineries processed about 1.1 million barrels last week, while gasoline consumption in the U.S. rose to 8.43 million barrels a day, the highest in three weeks, EIA data showed.

Reformulated gasoline to be blended with ethanol in the New York Harbor, or 84-octane RBOB, slipped 0.25 cent to 1.13 cents a gallon under futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:37 p.m., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Conventional gasoline on the New York spot market gained 0.25 cent to a premium of 3.13 cents.

The 3-2-1 crack spread, a measure of refining profitability based on Brent oil in Europe, slipped 4 cents to $9.0198 a barrel at 4:18 p.m.

Diesel Prices

New York’s ultra-low-sulfur diesel strengthened after supplies of distillates including diesel fuel and heating oil dropped 177,000 barrels to 24.2 million last week in the Central Atlantic, according to EIA data. The premium for the fuel gained 0.12 cent to 5 cents a gallon over heating oil futures.

Ultra-low-sulfur diesel on the U.S. Gulf Coast rose 1.06 cents to 0.32 cent below futures. Conventional 87-octane gasoline in the region fell 0.8 cent to 19.3 cents below futures.

The 3-2-1 crack spread for Gulf Coast refiners, based on West Texas Intermediate in Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped 51.8 cents to $21.647 a barrel. The same spread for Light Louisiana Sweet oil slipped $2.2184 to 64.74 cents a barrel, the lowest since Dec. 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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