Industrial Info's Weekly North American Refining Report

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info's weekly North American Refining Report gives you the latest inside intelligence on outages, derates, shutdowns, closures, delays and more. Tomorrow's news today...

Market Commentary:
A welcome sight is WTI prices continuing to push higher, recently up 3% at $24.26 per barrel (BBL), meaning a second week of increases, driven in part by the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status report, which showed much less crude making its way to storage and another pull from gasoline storage -- likely because American drivers are back on the road. Also, prices were driven in part because of an apparent easing of tensions between the U.S. and China over the coronavirus. As obviously investors are hoping the world's two largest economies could improve overall relations so that as the pandemic eases the global economy and worldwide demand for oil could recover more quickly (dan.molinski@wsj.com).

Also, here in North America, we are continuing to see reports of oil well shut-ins reducing supply as well as a gradual easing of coronavirus state lockdowns boosting demand. Though "the supply overhang continues to be a negative cloud over the market," says DTN's Dominick Chirichella. Speaking to Supply, the Baker Hughes rig count reported the U.S. oil rig count decreased by 33 to 292; thus, the steep decrease in active oil rigs continues.



The last time oil rig count was less than 292 was August 2009. Not only will this impact crude oil production, it will impact the associated natural gas production.

Turning our eye to U.S. imports, the U.S. administration speaks to how "Saudi Arabia and Russia's continued dumping of crude is having lasting and damaging effects on American energy producers. This is intentional -- Russia and Saudi Arabia are tired of competing with us...," some senators have recently said. "As much as I want to say turn those tankers around we don't want them here; they're replacing Alaska crude or they're taking up space in our limited storage -- again I think we need to recognize that many of our refiners are set up to take just exactly that heavy Saudi crude and that's what they need," Murkowski said, while also questioning how the contracts would be resolved if the foreign oil was wholly turned away.

So interesting times indeed are here in North America as one tries to get a good handle on the overall SnD picture and its impact to the energy industry. Therefore, within this North America Refining Report, Industrial Info hopes to shed some light on what is transpiring from a refinery operation's perspective all the way down to the refinery level in Canada. The report incorporates a North America Refinery Map as well as Area Chart to illustrate collectively when we can expect refinery capacity to return over the next month or so. For the U.S., Industrial Info is providing a PADD Map graphical outlook and a chart to indicate when we might expect PADDs to become healthier.

Petroleum Refining Highlights
May 8, 2020 Chevron, yesterday, May 7, restarted at reduced rates (COVID-19) the 70,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) VRDS Cat Feed Hydrotreater at its 260,000-BBL/d El Segundo, California, refinery after shutting down April 28.

May 8, 2020 Valero, today, May 8, restarted the 90,000-BBL/d Crude Topper Unit that had shut May 7, 2020, at its 180,000-BBL/d Houston, Texas, refinery. It continues at reduced rates due to the lack of fuel and product demand due to COVID-19. Separately, Valero had shut down the 39,000-BBL/d Vacuum (Combo Unit) since April 30 and it will remain shut until plant returns to normal rates projected by May 15.

Click on each of the images below for a larger view.















Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.