Tampa:
Phillips 66 shut a 131,000 barrel/d fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCC) at the company’s Bayway, N.J., plant on May 3, Genscape reported.
Tampa molten sulfur contracts were valued at $192/lt CFR for the second quarter, up $96/lt from the first-quarter $96/lt CFR agreement.
U.S. refining capacity pressed higher in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) most recent report. Combined utilization was noted at 86.5 percent for the week ending April 30, a 1.1-point increase from the previous 85.4 percent rate. The current rate topped the year-ago 70.5 percent, but trailed the 86.1 percent five-year average.
Daily crude inputs were also higher, climbing to an average 15.243 million barrels/d from the previous 15.018 million barrels/d rate, a 225,000 barrel/d jump.
U.S. Gulf:
ExxonMobil Corp. on May 1 initiated a lockout of approximately 650 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 12-243 union from the company’s 369,000 barrel/d refinery in Beaumont, Texas, Reuters reported.
The lockout was sealed after Exxon rejected a last-ditch contract offer from the USW on April 29 that would have extended the union’s previous contract by one year. The USW’s most recent contract expired on Feb. 1. The lockout is the facility’s first since 1998.
Genscape reported increased activity from a 104,000 barrel/d FCC at the Phillips 66 Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, La. The unit, shut on April 22 for unplanned repairs, remained below operational levels on May 5. Phillips on May 5 successfully restarted a 46,000 barrel/d FCC at its Lake Charles, La., plant. The unit had been offline since Dec. 21, 2020.
Citgo on May 4 restarted a 36,000 barrel/d vacuum distillation unit (VDU) at its plant in Lake Charles. The unit was originally shut on Aug. 25, 2020, ahead of Hurricane Laura. Multiple other units remained offline, including a 50,000 barrel/d VDU and 34,000 barrel/d coking unit.
Genscape also reported shutdowns at a 49,000 barrel/d hydrocracker and 35,000 barrel/d catalytic reformer at Valero’s Corpus Christi West refinery on May 6.
Sources called potential Gulf spot netbacks steady at $180-$185/mt FOB, flat from the prior report.
Brazil:
Last-done spot deals into Brazil continued to be noted at $209/mt CFR, steady from the prior report. Contract tons were priced in the $213-$214/mt CFR range for delivery in the second quarter.
Vancouver:
Vancouver spot netbacks continued to be reported at $170-$180/mt FOB, unmoved from the prior week.
Alberta:
Ongoing turnarounds at a number of Alberta upgraders continued to result in tight sulfur supply in the region, sources noted, affecting spot availability into both the U.S. molten and Vancouver prill markets.
Sources labeled Alberta sulfur netbacks in the $65-$110/mt FOB range, encompassing molten tons contracted into the U.S. at the low and prilled material selling through the Vancouver export market at the top of the range.
West Coast:
Royal Dutch Shell Plc subsidiary Equilon Enterprises LLC, doing business as Shell Oil Products U.S. (Shell), on May 4 announced an agreement to sell its 149,000 barrel/d Puget Sound Refinery, located outside of Anacortes, Wash., to HollyFrontier Corp.
The sale, valued at $350 million, was expected to conclude in fourth-quarter 2021, and furthers a stated goal by Shell to divest a large share of its refinery holdings.
The West Coast prill market continued to be noted at $170-$180/mt FOB, steady from one week earlier. Molten contracts were valued in the $140-$155/lt FOB range for loading in the second quarter, up from $70-$77/lt FOB in the previous contract period.
China:
Sources noted a quiet import market due to the five-day national Labor Day celebration that began on May 1, but braced for a potential kickstart to the market following the holiday’s May 5 conclusion. “It’ll be interesting to see if buyers come back into the market,” said one source.
Last-done into China continued to be reported in the $180-$200/mt CFR range, steady from one week earlier.
ADNOC:
Prilled ADNOC sulfur offers for May were noted at $183/mt FOB Ruwais, $2/mt below the company’s $185/mt April offer.
Qatar:
May prill rates on tons produced by Qatar Petroleum were noted at $183/mt FOB Ras Laffan, falling $2/mt from $185/mt FOB in April.