Gasoline Hits 2-Year High as Harvey Shuts Biggest U.S. Refinery

Gasoline rose to a two-year high as Tropical Storm Harvey hit the U.S. Gulf coast again after already knocking out a fifth of the nation’s refining capacity.

Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur refinery, the country’s biggest, was said to be shutting because of severe flooding. The disruption helped send motor fuel as much as 3.3 percent higher in New York, while the resulting reduction in demand from plants hit by the storm kept crude near a five-week low. After drenching Texas, Harvey regained strength over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and crashed ashore again Wednesday in southwest Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“The market focus seems to be on the quantity of refinery capacity shut-ins and potential to hit oil demand,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich. “Harvey’s disruptions mean greater variability in the weekly U.S. oil inventory, production and demand data in the next weeks, which will likely add to higher volatility.”

Gasoline for September delivery, which expires Thursday, climbed as much as 5.89 cents to $1.8422 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest in more than two years. The more-active October contract rose 2.3 cents to $1.6252 at 10:40 a.m. in London.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/gasoline-extends-gains-oil-slips-as-harvey-set-for-return-hit