Tampa: Representatives from the United Steelworkers union (USW) tentatively agreed to terms for an updated labor contract from lead oil company negotiator Shell Oil Co, according to reports, potentially signaling an end to the first countrywide refinery strike in 35 years.
The four-year employment contract would set pay raise schedules and trigger a review of staffing thresholds geared toward increasing maintenance and repair safety levels. The agreement would also freeze oil company contributions toward health care packages at levels set in the previous contract.
However, local USW workers at eight of the 15 striking facilities failed to immediately ratify the deal, citing issues left unresolved by the overarching agreement. Local settlement talks were ongoing at those locations.
Workers at the nation’s largest refinery, Motiva Enterprise’s Port Arthur, Texas, facility, approved the deal on March 18, and Tesoro’s three striking California refineries were close to accepting as well, reports indicated. Workers were likely to begin returning to work in late March.
The news of a potential resolution had many sulfur industry contacts assessing the state of refinery turnarounds, many of which were postponed in the wake of the strike.
A malfunctioning fluid catalytic unit at BP’s 413,000 barrel/d refinery at Whiting, Ind., is projected to stay offline for weeks while repairs are made, sources said. The unit is one of two in operation at the facility.
Domestic refinery capacity increased last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Utilization for the week ending March 13 was 88.1 percent, a 0.3 percent increase from the prior week’s 87.8 percent, and also higher than last year’s 85.6 percent and the five-year average of 84.7 percent.
Average daily crude inputs increased to 15.436 million barrels/d, a 136,000 barrel/day bump from the previously reported 15.300 million barrels/d.
The first-quarter contract price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa was $147/lt.
U.S. Gulf: Sulfur exported from the Gulf of Mexico was called $150-$155/mt FOB based on last done into Brazil, down from $160-$165/mt FOB at last report.
Vancouver: A number of sources reported softening in the Vancouver spot market last week. Prices were quoted in the mid $150s-$160s/mt FOB based on $165-$170/mt CFR levels at China. The previous range was $165-$175/mt FOB.
Alberta sulfur was quoted in a range of $5-$85/mt FOB.
West Coast: The West Coast price followed the Vancouver drop, with sources indicating a range of $150-$160/mt FOB. California molten sulfur contracts were $90-$130/lt FOB for the first quarter.
ADNOC: Sulfur was priced at $175/mt FOB for March.
Aramco: The April price of sulfur produced by Saudi Aramco was $165/mt FOB, down $10/mt from March’s $175/mt FOB.
Tasweeq: Qatar sulfur was offered at $164/mt FOB.