East Coast Gasoline Strengthens on Report of Irving FCC Shutdown

New York gasoline strengthened relative to futures after a report that Irving Oil Corp. shut a unit at a refinery supplying products to the area.

Reformulated, 84-octane gasoline, or RBOB, in New York Harbor strengthened 0.12 cent to a premium of 1 cent a gallon versus futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:33 p.m., the first gain in four days. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel rose 0.13 cent to 0.13 cent over futures.

Irving’s Saint John refinery in New Brunswick shut a 70,000-barrel-a-day fluid catalytic cracker for maintenance yesterday, according to Genscape Inc. Over half of the refinery’s finished products, including gasoline and diesel, are exported to the U.S. Northeast.

Delta Air Lines Inc.’s Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania also shut an FCC this week for work. It was expected to be down for 48 to 60 hours, the company said Oct. 28. The Trainer and Saint John refineries have a combined capacity of 483,800 barrels a day.

Stockpiles of gasoline on the U.S. East Coast fell 1.1 million barrels to 56.1 million in the week ended Oct. 25, the lowest level in a month, according to the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

The 3-2-1 crack spread in New York, a measure of refining margins based on Brent oil in Europe, rose for the first time in four days, advancing by 22 cents to $5.98 a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The same spread on the Gulf Coast, based on West Texas Intermediate oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, gained $2.62 to $12.33 a barrel.