-Refiners continued to enjoy high margins amid low crude prices in third quarter. Via Bloomberg, Tesoro reported record profits, while Valero, Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum had their best quarters in at least three years. The profit margin for Gulf Coast refiners has reached its highest point since at least 2010.
-Meanwhile, East Coast refiners have returned to importing foreign crude as oil production in the Bakken Shale wanes. Via Reuters, Bakken production reached 1.153 million barrels per day (bpd) in June but fell to 1.13 million bpd in August. The price of Bakken oil has risen relative to imports from Latin America, the Middle East and Africa as a result of the slowdown. PBF Energy is considering eliminating the Bakken oil deliveries for which it just recently built a rail terminal at its Delaware City, Delaware, refinery.
-A recent turnaround at LyondellBasell’s La Porte, Texas, site revealed equipment failures and machinery breakdowns in the facility’s acetyls plant, Platts reports. The company issued a force majeure declaration on vinyl acetate monomer and glacial acetic acid supplies from the plant.
