The US Midwest Group 3 suboctane cash differential jumped 10.5 cents Thursday to be assessed at NYMEX November RBOB plus 28 cents/gal.
This is the highest cash differential since Monday, when it was assessed at NYMEX November RBOB plus 27.25 cents/gal. The outright is up 15.6 cents at $2.4874/gal, the highest since September 30, when it was $2.5065/gal.
Refinery maintenance left some market participants short on supply, traders said.
"There are no physical barrels to cover short positions," a market source said.
US Midwest refinery utilization fell 5.3 percentage points to 84.6% for the reporting week ending October 17, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday, reflecting a period when some refinery maintenance was ongoing. That compared to a year-to-date average of refinery utilization rate of 92.9%.
During the Platts Market on Close assessment process on Thursday, Koch bought 10,000 barrels of suboctane from Apex at plus 24 cents/gal. After that trade, Apex sold 20,000 barrels to US Oil at plus 27 cents/gal. Lastly, Valero sold 10,000 barrels to US Oil at plus 27.50 cents/gal.
At the end of the MOC process, US Oil was still bid at plus 27.75 cents/gal, Koch at plus 25 cents/gal, and Musket at plus 18 cents/gal.
"It doesn't take much to send prices to the moon when there is no extra supply. Look at the window [MOC process], 40,000 barrels traded and the bids started at plus 18 and finished at plus 27.75," a second source said.
