Gasoline Futures Rise on Stronger Demand, Hovensa Unit Shutdown

Gasoline advanced on speculation that fuel demand will rise because of the Christmas holidays and as the continued shutdown of a key gasoline-making unit threatened to tighten supplies in the U.S. East Coast market.

Futures gained as Hovensa LLC worked to repair the 150,000-barrel-a-day fluid catalytic cracker at its St. Croix refinery, the largest in the Caribbean. The plant supplied 139,000 barrels a day of finished gasoline and blending components in September to the East Coast, which includes New York Harbor, the delivery point for the Nymex gasoline contract.