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Petroleum

Crude Oil Prices Surge Past $22/bbl Amidst Refinery Outages and Strong Demand

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A surge in gasoline prices led by refinery outages and strong demand in the market helped send crude prices past $22/bbl in New York for the first time in 22 months. As a result, the September Nymex contract settled at 68.82 cents/gallon, its highest price in two years. The meeting between Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico failed to produce significant production policy changes, but the gasoline market was crude's main support. Sunoco Inc. shut down a 70,000 b/d crude unit after a fire at its refinery in Toledo, Ohio, while Phillips Petroleum Co. shut a hydrotreater at its Sweeny, Texas, refinery for maintenance. Meanwhile, cooler weather led natural gas prices to decline in South Texas and Louisiana.

Key Takeaways:

  • The gasoline market's 2.71 cents/gallon surge led October light, sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) up 74 cents to $22.01/bbl.
  • The September Nymex contract settled at 68.82 cents/gallon, its highest price in two years.
  • Sunoco Inc. shut down a 70,000 b/d crude unit after a fire at its refinery in Toledo, Ohio.
  • Phillips Petroleum Co. shut a hydrotreater at its Sweeny, Texas, refinery for maintenance.
  • Cooler weather led natural gas prices to decline in South Texas and Louisiana.
  • The October Nymex contract rose 2.32 cents to 65.28 cents/gallon due to two refinery problems.
  • Nymex September heating oil gained 1.34 cents to close at 57.33 cents/gallon.
  • The October contract closed at 57.96 cents/gallon, up 1.32 cents.
  • Quantitative details of refinery shut-downs and maintenance cannot be quantified explicitly.

Statistics:

  • Crude oil prices rose to $22.01/bbl in New York for the first time in 22 months.
  • The gasoline market's 2.71 cents/gallon surge led October light, sweet crude to rise 74 cents.
  • The September Nymex contract settled at 68.82 cents/gallon, its highest price in two years.
  • Sunoco Inc.'s 70,000 b/d crude unit was shut down.
  • Phillips Petroleum Co.'s hydrotreater was shut for maintenance.
  • Natural gas prices declined 3 cents in South Texas and 1 cent in Louisiana.
  • Brent crude closed at $20.76/bbl on Friday.
  • The Nymex Henry Hub October contract rose 4.7 cents to $2.969/MMBtu on its first day of trading.

Sources:

  • "Oil Prices Rise on Refinery Outages" by Natural Gas Week
  • "Crude Oil Prices Hit $22/bbl" by The Oil Daily
  • "Brent Crude Closes at $20.76/bbl" by an unnamed publication
  • "Nymex Henry Hub October Contract Rises" by Natural Gas Week

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