Energy futures up sharply after word of refinery woes

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May 3, 2001, 9:29PM

Energy futures up sharply after word of refinery woes NEW YORK -- Crude and refined products futures advanced sharply at the New York Mercantile Exchange, led by a surge in gasoline buying following reports and just plain talk of refinery problems.

A series of refinery mishaps amid record low gasoline stocks just ahead of driving season propelled gasoline futures to a record high at $1.163 a gallon Monday.

Refinery-inspired buyers were at work again Thursday wiping out sharp losses Wednesday stemming from surprisingly large builds in stocks.

Unleaded gasoline for June delivery was up 4.10 cents to close at $1.07 a gallon.

"It started out a little weaker, then it got going on news that the cat cracker in Venezuela was down," said Chris Schachte, analyst at GSC Energy. "That got things all excited."

A 110,000-barrels-a-day catalytic cracker unit is still shut at Petroleos de Venezuela's Cardon refinery after restart attempts failed, a company spokesman said Thursday. The unit went out of service Monday because of a power blackout. The cat cracker is one of the biggest gasoline-producing units in Venezuela, which is a key supplier of gasoline to the United States. No restart date was given.

There was also talk that the restart of units at Conoco's Killingholme refinery in Humber, England, would take up to a year after an explosion and fire April 16. A company spokesman said the restart is still on schedule for the end of June.

However, Conoco traders were good buyers of longer-term contracts, not just the nearby June, trading sources said.

Also, this week's restart of an 85,000-barrels-a-day cat cracker at Orion Refining's Norco, La., refinery has been pushed back again, to May 10.

Crude settled at $28.45 a barrel, up 65 cents. June heating oil futures retreated in early trading, falling 1.77 cents to as low as 74.70 cents a gallon before easing. Heating oil futures finished up 2.2 cents at 76.58 cents a gallon.

June natural gas rose 4.4 cents to $4.527 per thousand cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude from the North Sea climbed 48 cents to $28.07 a barrel. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/business/898933

-- Carl Jenkins (smewherepress@aol.com), May 04, 2001


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