Tampa:
Genscape reported restarts from a 53,000 barrel/d crude distillation unit (CDU), a 16,000 barrel/d vacuum distillation unit (VDU), and the 11,000 barrel/d Reformer 1 catalytic reformer at the Marathon St. Paul Park, Minn., refinery on Aug. 20. The units had been offline since July 24 for planned maintenance. A 20,000 barrel/d hydrotreater restarted on Aug. 22, signaling the return of all monitored units from the turnaround.
Activity increases were observed on Aug. 21 from the 189,000 barrel/d CDU and a 71,000 barrel/d VDU at the Citgo refinery in Lemont, Ill., although the units remained below normal operational levels. The CDU and VDU were taken offline for planned maintenance on July 12.
BP’s Whiting, Ind., refinery suffered an electrical fire on Aug. 24, multiple news outlets reported, forcing the shutdown of a number of units. Genscape confirmed outages at the plant’s 255,000 barrel/d Pipestill 12 CDU, the 70,000 barrel/d Pipestill 11A CDU, a 70,000 barrel/d catalytic reformer, and a 24,000 barrel/d hydrotreater.
Third-quarter Tampa molten sulfur contracts were reported at $352/lt CFR, falling $129/lt from $481/lt CFR in the prior period.
Refinery capacity ticked up for the week ending Aug. 19, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported, with utilization described at a combined 93.8% for the period, up from 93.5% posted previously. The current rate topped the year-ago 92.4% and the 92.3% five-year average.
Daily crude inputs moved lower, however, to an average 16.255 million barrels/d for the period, a 168,000 barrel/d decrease from 16.423 million barrels/d in the prior report.
U.S. Gulf:
Marathon briefly suffered a complete shutdown at the company’s Garyville, La., refinery on Aug. 20, according to Genscape. The facility was observed successfully restarting one day later on Aug. 21.
LyondellBasell Ind. took a 57,000 barrel/d coker offline at its Houston, Texas, refinery during the morning of Aug. 22. A 149,000 barrel/d CDU and an associated 96,000 barrel/d VDU were shut for planned maintenance on Aug. 11.
A 110,000 barrel/d hydrotreater was noted going offline on Aug. 19 at the Valero Texas City, Texas, refinery.
Sources reported rising values on the US Gulf sulfur market during the week, with at least two cargoes reported changing hands. The first, a 10,000-12,000 mt payload slated for first-half September lifting, was quoted trading at $39/mt FOB, an increase from the market’s prior $10/mt FOB low. Players described an additional 10,000 mt vessel changing hands at $56/mt FOB, above the week-ago $50/mt FOB high. That cargo was also planned to load in September.
Based on reported trades, the Gulf sulfur market firmed to $39-$56/mt FOB, up from $10-$50/mt FOB in the prior report.
Brazil:
No new business was reported out of Brazil during the week, leaving price ideas unmoved from the previous $90-$100/mt CFR level.
Players offered widely variable outlooks regarding the market’s next turn. A recent tender in Argentina rumored to attract offers in the $130-$140s/mt CFR suggested Brazil pricing in the $120s-$130s/mt CFR, some argued. Others pointed to recent US Gulf FOB levels, extrapolating Brazil values closer to the $70-$80s/mt CFR.
Vancouver:
Last-done pricing out of Vancouver was reported up to $70-$75/mt FOB for the week, with most business heard tracking toward the upper end of the range. Further increases at China were expected to apply additional upside pressure in the next round of business. The market was last noted at $65-$70/mt FOB.
Alberta:
Alberta sulfur was indicated netting back in a wide $0-$282/mt FOB range, up from the last reported (-)$5-$282/mt FOB level.
West Coast:
West Coast sulfur pricing moved up in tandem with Vancouver to $70-$75/mt FOB, lifting from $65-$70/mt FOB in the prior report. Third-quarter molten sulfur contracts were reported at $370-$385/lt FOB. Contracts were noted at 375-$390/lt FOB in the second quarter.
China:
The China import market started the week at $110/mt CFR, nudging up from the week-ago $105-$110/mt CFR. Sources reported new business concluding around the $125/mt CFR mark on Aug. 25, leaving values in the $110-$125/mt CFR range for the full week.
ADNOC:
ADNOC prill levels were noted at $85/mt FOB Ruwais for August, down from $428/mt FOB in the prior period.
Qatar:
Solid sulfur offerings from Muntajat were heard at $77/mt FOB Ras Laffan for August, falling 82% from $428/mt FOB offered in July.