Gasoline at Two-Year High as Harvey Shuts Largest U.S. Refinery

Gasoline hit a new a two-year high as investors assess the impact of refinery outages and restarts as Harvey moves away from the Houston area.

With the storm sliding farther inland over Southwestern Louisiana, Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur refinery, the country’s biggest, began a controlled shutdown. The disruption helped send motor fuel up 5.7 percent in New York, while oil slipped. An Energy Information Administration report showed U.S. crude stockpiles slid for a ninth week, though production — often given more weight by traders — continued to rise last week.

“The market right now is more worried about the tropical storm than they are about the weekly inventory,” said Matt Sallee, who helps manage $16 billion in oil-related assets at Tortoise Capital Advisors LLC, by telephone. “This storm is basically very effective in its path of shutting down refinery capacity.”

Gasoline for September delivery, which expires Thursday, climbed 10.14 cents to settle at $1.8847 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level since July 2015. The more-active October contract rose 3.56 cents to $1.6375 a gallon.

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery declined 48 cents to end the session at $45.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest level in five weeks.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/gasoline-extends-gains-oil-slips-as-harvey-set-for-return-hit