BP Toledo refinery shuts down after fire: Update 2

Updates with price movement.

US gasoline and diesel prices were up this morning following a deadly fire Tuesday night at BP's 160,000 b/d refinery in Toledo, Ohio, which shut operations at the site.

Gasoline blendstock CBOB at the Buckeye Complex in Hammond, Indiana, widened its premium to Nymex RBOB futures by 17.5¢/USG to 27.5¢/USG today. Ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) prices traded at flat to Nymex ULSD futures just one session after fetching a 23¢/USG discount.

Two workers at the plant were killed in the fire, which was extinguished around 10:15pm ET on 20 September. The company said the refinery was safely shut down and would remain offline through today.

BP did not comment on how the fire started or a timeframe for a restart of operations.

US midcontinent gasoline inventories rose by 2.8pc to 43.7mn bl last week, but this lagged year-earlier levels by 6.8pc, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data released today. Midcontinent diesel stocks increased by 2.2pc to 28.1mn bl, a 9.9pc drop from the same week in 2021.

BP agreed last month to sell its 50pc stake in the refinery to joint venture partner Cenovus Energy for $300mn, with the deal expected to close later this year.

By Jason Metko and Jared Ainsworth