Energy & Science
Frozen Texas Refineries Race to Restart to Cash in on Margins
- Nymex margins on turning crude into fuel at a 10-month high
- At one point 16 Lone Star refineries were shut due to the cold
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Texas refineries are racing to restart plants paralyzed by last week’s freeze to take advantage of the best returns for turning crude into fuels in a year.
The storm knocked off 16 refineries in Texas, three in Oklahoma and two in Louisiana, putting a huge dent gasoline and diesel supplies. That has left an opportunity for plants that are still running to capitalize on the best margins on crude processing since February 2020, excluding the April anomaly when crude below zero. The value of gasoline, diesel and other refined products relative to crude oil, known as the 3-2-1 crack, surged above $19 a barrel this week.