BP is planning to restart units at its 435,000 b/d Whiting, Indiana, refinery early on 2 February after a power outage led the company to shut down operations today.
The refiner expects power to be restored to the plant by 11:00pm ET tonight before restarting units in the morning, the City of Whiting said in a statement this evening, citing BP officials.
BP began shutting down operations at its Whiting refinery midday today after the power outage, evacuating non-essential workers, the company told Argus. Nearby roads were closed to assist with the evacuation order, which was lifted at around 5pm ET, and roads are expected to re-open by 11:00pm ET, according to the City of Whiting.
The refinery produces about 238,000 b/d of gasoline, 95,000 b/d of diesel and 48,000 b/d of jet fuel and supplies approximately 7pc of all asphalt in the US, according to BP.
The outage at what is the US midcontinent's largest refinery spiked regional refined product prices and lowered Canadian heavy crude prices.
Increased bid levels for Chicago's West Shore/Badger CBOB sent prices up by 6.61¢/USG to $1.79/USG today. The sharp rise in prices came amid elevated buying interest in the second half of the day as news of the refinery outage circulated in the markets. Despite elevated buying interest, no selling offers emerged.
Outright prices for Chicago's Buckeye Complex ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) also surged by 20.52¢/USG to $2.59/USG.
The Whiting outage pressured a key Canadian heavy crude price today as it is one of the biggest consumers of the grade in the US midcontinent. Western Canadian Select at Hardisty started the day trading at a $18.25/bl discount to CMA Nymex WTI futures in the morning, but the discount widened after the outage to as much as $19/bl before falling to between $18.80-$18.60/bl.
