Severe flooding in Oklahoma continues to impact crude flows to and from the Cushing oil storage hub as MPLX shut its 360,000 b/d Ozark crude pipeline to Patoka, Illinois, sources said Tuesday.
The closure provided further support for gasoline prices, which strengthened last week after HollyFrontier shut its 125,000 b/d Tulsa refinery as a precaution.
The southern leg of Tallgrass Energy's 400,000 b/d Pony Express crude pipeline also remains shut because of flooding. The system carries crude to Cushing from Guernsey, Wyoming.
MPLX did not respond to a request for confirmation of Ozark's status.
"Cash roll is -45/-35, so that more or less confirms it," a US crude market source said of the Ozark pipeline closure.
Flood warnings continued Tuesday for parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas as forecasts called for more rain.
Group 3 suboctane, known as V grade, out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was heard bid higher in the morning and talked up 1 cent to the NYMEX June RBOB futures futures contract plus 3.75 cents/gal, while Chicago CBOB spiked on a new month of trading. It was talked 7 cents higher to plus 7.75 cents/gal.
Group 3 differentials jumped 11.75 cents over the past week because of flooding that shut the Tulsa refinery and other infrastructure, but one source said gasoline inventories grew in the Magellan Pipeline system over the weekend. "So that may keep the craziness at bay on V" grade, he said.
But a second market source pointed to continued weather issues, especially in Oklahoma. "Rivers are still bloated and the forecast for tomorrow isn't good, so there's no recovery in sight just yet," he said.
In Chicago, according to a third source, differentials spiked on talk of slow gasoline shipments up Explorer Pipeline to the region and a question on whether BP was "having trouble getting their last CDU up" at the 4213,500 b/d Whiting refinery.
