January 23, 2008
LATEST MARKET ASSESSMENTS (CENTS PER GALLON EXCEPT WHERE NOTED) U.S.GULF U.S.W.C. U.S.E.C. (Los Angeles) 70/30 SPLIT* 228.1825 216.4250 - - - UNLEADED REGULAR 222.775 204.500 - - - NO. 2 OIL 240.800 244.250 - - - WTI (MAR) 86.99 * 70/30 Split is based on Gulf Coast Waterborne products. VGO (LOW SULFUR) CARGO* 220.20-223.70 - - - - - - LOW SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT ( -8.00/ -4.50) - - - - - - LOW SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 5.50/ 7.00) - - - - - - VGO (MED SULFUR) CARGO 217.90-220.20 - - - - - - MED SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT (-10.25/ -8.00) - - - - - - MED SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 4.50/ 5.50) - - - - - - VGO (HIGH SULFUR) CARGO 210.70-213.20 - - - - - - HIGH SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT (-17.50/-15.00) - - - - - - HIGH SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 1.50/ 2.50) - - - - - - *all cargo prices are on a delivered, ex-duty basis VGO (LOW SULFUR) BARGE 220.20-223.70 - - - - - - LOW SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT ( -8.00/ -4.50) - - - - - - LOW SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 5.50/ 7.00) - - - - - - VGO (MED SULFUR) BARGE 217.90-220.20 - - - - - - MED SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT (-10.25/ -8.00) - - - - - - MED SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 4.50/ 5.50) - - - - - - VGO (HIGH SULFUR) BARGE 210.70-213.20 - - - - - - HIGH SUL. DIFF. TO SPLIT (-17.50/-15.00) - - - - - - HIGH SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( 1.50/ 2.50) - - - - - - LT. CYCLE OIL 220.80-222.80 - - - - - - LT. CYCLE DIFF TO NO.2 (-20.00/-18.00) - - - - - - LS LT. CYCLE OIL 225.80-227.80 - - - - - - LS LT. CYCLE DIFF TO NO.2 (-15.00/-13.00) - - - - - - NAPHTHA (OFFSHORE 40N+A) 216.30-216.80 - - - - - - NAPHTHA DIFF. TO UNLEAD ( -6.50/ -6.00) - - - - - - NAPHTHA (DOMESTIC 40N+A) 216.80-217.30 - - - - - - NAPHTHA DIFF. TO UNLEAD ( -6.00/ -5.50) - - - - - - PARAFFINIC NAPHTHA ($/MT) 790.50-792.50 - - - - - - N. GASOLINE ($/MT) 776.10-787.55 - - - - - - ALKYLATE 264.70-265.85 - - - - - - ST. RUN RESID (LO SUL) 82.50- 83.50 - - - - - - LOW SUL. DIFF. TO WTI ( -4.50/ -3.50) - - - - - - ST. RUN RESID (HI SUL) 74.00- 75.00 - - - - - - HIGH SUL. DIFF. TO WTI (-13.00/-12.00) - - - - - - (All St. Run prices and differentials shown in dollars per bbl) NO. 6 OIL .3% HIGH POUR - - - - - - 81.30- 81.75 NO. 6 OIL 1.0% - - - - - - 69.75- 70.25 NO. 6 OIL 3% 64.50- 65.00 - - - 63.75- 64.25 (All heavy fuels prices shown in dollar per bbl) PROMPT REFINED SPOT PRICES UNLEADED REGULAR 222.20-223.35 202.00-207.00 222.30-222.80 NO. 2 OIL 240.55-241.05 244.00-244.50 241.30-241.80 JET 54 247.55-248.05 - - - 251.55-252.05 FORWARD REFINED SPOT PRICES UNLEADED REGULAR 224.20-225.20 - - - 222.35-222.85 NO. 2 OIL 238.55-239.55 - - - 241.80-242.30 N. GASOLINE (RIVER) ANY 197.500-200.375 - - - - - - N. GASOLINE (RIVER) OUT 196.125-199.125 - - - - - - PROPANE TET 143.500-144.500 - - - - - - NORMAL BUTANE TET 176.250-176.750 - - - - - - ISOBUTANE TET 179.250-179.750 - - - - - - MARKET OVERVIEW: 1/23/2008 - Oil futures nudged lower again, but the pattern was not wholeheartedly mimicked in the nation's cash gasoline markets -- some regions even posted gains. Some of the smallest losses were seen in the Gulf Coast. Basis levels have gotten stronger there and the gap has closed between Houston and New York Harbor barrels. The fact that Texas material has been cheaper than that up north has helped lead to heavy nominations up the Colonial Pipeline, said sources, along with allocations. Gulf basis could go higher still. Upcoming turnaround work does not appear as extensive as the spring 2007 season, analysts noted. But traders said this year's output will take place against the backdrop of some of the heaviest refining construction in decades. There are projects that will see huge complexes like Marathon, Garyville and Motiva, Pt. Arthur approximately double their capacities by 2010. One wildcard will be the resumption of "normal" operations at BP's 475,000 b/d Texas City refinery, plagued with troubles since early March 2005. FEEDSTOCKS: IN SPOT TRADING... The Gulf Coast unleaded crack to WTI widened by about 4.5cts/gal today, and naphtha discounts widened as well. A major-to-major deal involved a barge volume of 40 N+A naphtha trading at USGC waterborne unleaded -6.00cts/gal delivered basis in a January 28-30 window . Another deal involved a major purchasing ~45 N+A material at unleaded - 5.25cts/gal delivered basis in a February 5-7 window. And a barge volume of high-quality 60 N+A naphtha went from a major to a trader at unleaded +3.00cts/gal delivered Houston basis in a January 27-29 window. In light cycle oil, multiple volumes are on offer, but buyers and sellers apparently are not seeing eye-to-eye. Offers on 2.0-2.5% sulfur LCO have been in the range of 19-20cts/gal under High Sulfur No. 2 oil delivered basis, but those offers garnered little interest. In the VGO market, traders were quiet throughout the day as crude oil futures dropped. A trader sold a barge of 48,000 bbls 0.5% sulfur, 160 aniline, 19 API gravity VGO to a major at March WTI +$5.75 FOB loading January 28-30. The deal is still subject to qualities. Also, a major is reported to have a cargo of good-quality sweet VGO coming from Europe into the New York Harbor late this month. Another cargo from a trader of sweet VGO is expected to arrive from Northwest Europe in mid- February. No deals have been reported yet for either cargo. REFINED PRODUCTS: IN GASOLINE.... Another thin day of GULF COAST gasoline trading was marked by late-day short covering that boosted cash basis a penny for a moment before equilibrium was returned. Prices ended nearly 3cts softer at $2.2160/gal on this Cycle 6 scheduling day that bid adieu to January barrels. The next cycle traded at 6.35cts under stronger March RBOB futures, February is a backwardated market -- so far. Short covering was the name of the game in late afternoon Platts window trading as differentials briskly moved from 3.5cts under futures to 2.5cts under and back to 3.5cts to end the day. Premium unleaded traded at 7cts over regular-grade this morning followed by a Platts window deal at Merc plus 3cts, or a 5.5cts regrade at the time of the trade, sources said. GROUP 3 gasoline firmed again today, moving to trade above the Merc for the first time since mid-November. Trading took place at a half-penny premium for prompt-timing, with any-timing seeing the same value trade earlier in the day. Prompt-timing material was worth about 50pts less than any-timing at day's end. Cash prices gained 5pts on the day, the only market east of the Rockies to see a gain. CHICAGO, however, saw weakness return to the market with deals done between a dime and 9.50cts below the February print -- ending the day on the high-side but down a penny basis-wise from yesterday. Cash prices were $2.1560/gal, down almost 4cts on the day. Regular unleaded gasoline in the NEW YORK HARBOR saw a slight bounce in basis today, with prompt activity reported at 2.6cts to 2.5cts under the screen, narrowing from activity yesterday at the minus 2.75cts level. RBOB also saw basis levels taper today, with prompt talk edging a quarter-cent north to minus 2.75cts, though overall activity remained thin. While regular-grade gasoline saw basis levels advance, however, premium grades saw cash differentials ease. PBOB was offered today at 3.75cts over futures, while premium unleaded was on offer at plus 6.75cts -- both dropping about half a cent from yesterday. IN DISTILLATES.... Distillate prices took the brunt of the NYMEX weakness today, and GULF COAST ultra-low-sulfur and low-sulfur on-road diesel barrels flipped their relationship once again. Low-sulfur fuel ended up costing 2cts over the Merc based on the sole trade we saw on this scheduling day. Short covering was likely to blame, and a lack of ULSD scheduling. Cycle 5 ULSD schedules Thursday, but the market ended today at plus 1.25cts while the next cycle costs 40-50pts less. Meanwhile, after trading yesterday at 50pts over the NYMEX, Gulf low- sulfur off-road fuel suddenly booked at 3cts then 4cts under the futures screen in the Platts afternoon trading window. Prices dropped nearly 8.5cts today to $2.3930/gal. GROUP 3 ULSD firmed with gasoline today, jumping up a penny in basis to 3.25cts above the Merc. That pared back some of the losses from heating oil futures, with cash prices losing just under 4cts to $2.4555/gal, the lowest numbers since December 10. CHICAGO ULSD was a "scarce critter," according to one Midwestern trader, and didn't move far from the 6cts discount seen yesterday. Cash prices dumped almost a nickel in strength to $2.3630/gal, the lowest value since early October. Distillate activity in the NEW YORK HARBOR was fairly thin today, with the exception of heating oil, which saw several trades at 75pts under the Merc -- even to where it traded yesterday. There were no deals reported for ULSD, though traders said the market does feel a bit "heavier," which weighed on Buckeye basis levels -- dropping back half a cent to 3cts over futures. ON THE WEST COAST... Once again volatility reared its head on the West Coast as Los Angeles CARBOB rolled into the February market and flat prices moved higher based on that roll. Los Angeles CARBOB moves into the February market, with the first cycle trading at a 16cts discount versus March RBOB futures earlier in the day, but falling to a discount of as much as 21cts this afternoon. Flat prices did bounce back though into a $2.07-2.12/gal range. Although there were no anys reported trading basis levels were pegged around 11cts over the March futures market, putting flat prices at $2.39/gal. The March CARBOB market was also pegged around an 11cts premium versus April RBOB futures, which has prices in the $2.52/gal area. So the carry seen from January into February is looking to continue into the spring. San Francisco CARBOB pulled back to trade at a 13cts discount versus March RBOB futures on an any-timing basis and was seen at weaker levels this afternoon. Flat prices dropped sharply today to the $2.10-2.15/gal area. Portland gasoline was quiet with the market running roughly 19cts under front month RBOB futures and flat prices off a couple of pennies to the $2.06/gal level. Diesel markets eased up a bit basis wise, but with heating oil futures dropping some five cents, flat prices were off more than a nickel with L.A. and San Francisco CARB diesel around the $2.4475/gal level after trading 3.75- 4cts over the futures index. EPA diesel in L.A. was seen weakening a bit more to about 50 points under CARB diesel. January jet fuel in Los Angeles traded this morning at a 2.5cts premium, while February 1st cycle jet fuel traded 4cts over March heating oil. Portland diesel was quiet today with the market at around a 14cts discount or $2.2825/gal. NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: CBG is the summer-grade gasoline for Arizona, AZRBOB and LV-unl, are the winter-grade gasoline for Arizona and Las Vegas. Gas prices in L.A. are WEST LINE. All gas prices in S.F. are NORTH LINE - ZERO LINE. Ethanol quote is for delivered rail car ethanol in the L.A. area. RFG Ethanol is not a fungible pipeline product, but a reflection of the value of blending CARBOB with 5.7% ethanol. Pacific Northwest gas and No.2 oil prices are FOB Portland Olympic Pipeline; Jet Fuel is FOB Seattle Barge. Clear unl in LA is 13.5-psi, clear unl in Bay Area is 13.5-psi, clear unl in Pacific Northwest is 15.0-psi and pre is 92-octane. GAS LIQUIDS: Gas liquids prices moved lower following the lead set by the NYMEX petroleum markets. NGL trading activity was on the moderate to light side. In spot trading, Mt. Belvieu propane anys recorded deals from $1.435- $1.445/gal. The non-TET and TET (LDH) markets were seen to be trading flat to each other. Hattiesburg propane anys were running about 3cts over the Belvieu market. Deals were marked from $1.47-$1.475/gal. Conway propane anys saw trades from $1.3775-$1.3925/gal. RESIDUAL FUEL: Residual fuel markets succumbed to Merc pressures with bids and offers falling by at least $1. On the U.S. Atlantic Coast, Vitol dropped a bid for 0.3% HP for Feb. 1-5 delivery to $81.30, with warmer-weather forecasts adding ammo to the Merc- related fall. Westport offered 0.7% at an outright price of $72.35 for Feb. 5-10, while Sunoco showed a piece at a 50/50 formula of $69.40/mean pricing The 1% exchanged hands with Westport selling to Conoco at $70.05. Westport showed 2.2% at $64.55. Gulf Coast prices lost about 50cts to $1, with Valero selling prompt bbl to Glencore at $64.75, FOB HOFTI. The New York 1% and Gulf Coast 3% swaps lost about $1-$1.5. NEWS: ***SPECIAL REPORT: TURNAROUND SEASON COULD SEE PRICE PIVOTS Scheduled refinery maintenance in the next 120 days does not look to be especially heavy, but the success with which turnaround work is completed may be the key lever that tilts gasoline and diesel prices higher or lower. Western and Midwestern unit work does not appear to be as extensive as the Spring 2007 turnaround season was, and neither does the Gulf Coast, noted Citigroup analyst Doug Leggate in a mid-December report. But products traders aren't necessarily comfortable with the temperate forecasts -- they note that this year's Gulf Coast output will take place against the backdrop of some of the heaviest refining construction in several decades. There are projects that will see huge refinery complexes like Marathon-Garyville and Motiva-Pt. Arthur approximately double their respective capacities by 2010. That work could tax veteran staff that supervise or perform many of the routine projects in Texas and Louisiana. And conducting a refinery turnaround these days is anything but "routine." Assets that could have been purchased for $100 million or $200 million six years ago now fetch five to 10 times that level. Accordingly, there is much at stake in conducting work that will ensure that billion-dollar assets function properly during peak demand months. The stakes for the traditionally profitable second and third calendar quarters are now higher than ever. From 1990 through 2002, for example, refiners might have expected to see cracks widen by perhaps $2-$4/bbl during the preseason and actual driving season. Nowadays, gasoline and diesel cracks can move $5-$10/bbl in under a week. Tesoro senior vice president and chief economist Lynn Westfall mentioned the much more substantial differences at an analysts' conference last month. He noted that the cost of refinery downtime during high-margin months ran about $17/bbl nationwide in 2007 and is closer to $18/bbl on the West Coast. Hence, "falling down" in the second quarter can have a dramatic impact on a refiner's annual profit. Most of the refinery maintenance this year is tilted toward the latter part of the first quarter, although there is some second quarter work that should impact April runs. Many refiners now shroud turnaround work under a cloak of secrecy, but Westfall ventured that 2008 crude unit maintenance would be about double the historic rate, with downstream conversion unit downtime also much higher than normal. Not all market-watchers agree -- some believe that this year's maintenance schedule is lighter than in recent years, which were witness to a flurry of downtime tied to desulfurization efforts. A true wildcard in the 2008 2Q/3Q season will be the restoration of production that was taken off the shelf between 2005 and 2007. Most critical will be the resumption of "normal" operations at BP's 475,000-b/d Texas City, Texas, refinery. Nothing close to normal has been witnessed at that complex since early March 2005. Secondly, BP's Whiting, Ind., refinery, which limped along since an end-March 2007 fire, is scheduled to return to full operations sometime before the first quarter ends. Here's a rundown of where OPIS sees maintenance planned over the first quarter of 2008. Material is gathered from the best possible sources, but because of the reticence of many companies to confirm schedules, it cannot be guaranteed. PADD1: ConPhil -- plans a turnaround for three major units at its 250,000-b/d Bayway, N.J., refinery in March for three to four weeks. The refiner is expected to shut a crude distillation unit, a hydrotreater and a reformer. Sunoco -- the 140,000-b/d Point Breeze section on the company's Philadelphia complex will see maintenance beginning in February on most units, lasting into late March, for a total of roughly 50 days. The Point Breeze facility has two crude units, one rated at 90,000 b/d and another at 50,000 b/d. PADD2: BP -- the 420,000-b/d Whiting refinery will take a 95,000-b/d crude unit down for six to eight weeks from Dec. 26. The refinery, which has limped along since an end-March 2007 fire, is scheduled to return to full operations sometime before the first quarter ends. Frontier -- the 112,000-b/d El Dorado, Kan., refinery will see a 40,000-b/d crude unit, 40,000-b/d FCC, and 45,000-b/d coker all down March 1 for 40 days. By the end of first quarter 2008, Frontier expects to see completion of the El Dorado crude unit and vacuum tower expansion that was first approved by Frontier's board of directors in late 2005. The unit expansions will allow the refinery to process incremental heavy crude volumes. Sunoco -- plans to perform a catalyst change-out on the 180,000-b/d Toledo, Ohio, refinery's hydrocracker around March-April 2008. A hydrocracker expansion already underway will be completed at the time of the catalyst change-out. It's also possible that Sunoco at that time will address some fouling pluggage on one of Toledo's two crude units. The pluggage is restricting the unit to a rate of 80,000 b/d rather than the designed 90,000 b/d. If the crude unit isn't shut to reduce the pluggage in the March-April timeframe, then the work will coincide with Toledo's FCC turnaround in the fall of 2008. Valero -- the 182,000-b/d Memphis, Tenn., refinery as of early January has maintenance underway on a sulfur recovery unit. PADD3: BP -- announced in late December that its 475,000-b/d Texas City refinery should be operating near full capacity in four to six weeks, past its previously announced timeframe of the fourth quarter of 2007. The refinery has been running at about half capacity since the March 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers. Three of four major processing units that were taken down have been returned to service, and the fourth unit, which processes sour crude, is expected to be brought online in January or February. A reformer will also restart in the same timeframe. This should put the refinery at an operating capacity of 470,000 b/d. But a mid-January accident and fatality near an ultraformer could push the eventual restart back even further. BP also shut down the Texas City alkylation 3 unit on Dec. 31 for 90 days of scheduled turnaround service. Chalmette Refining -- a joint venture between ExxonMobil and PDVSA, operated by ExxonMobil, will shut its 72,000-b/d FCC and an alkylation unit on Jan. 4 for about five weeks, but details on the exact shutdown date were unclear. The unit was last shut for a brief turnaround in early September. Chevron -- the 330,000-b/d Pascagoula refinery should see fire repairs from an August 2007 fire completed in the first quarter of 2008. The fire damage was largely isolated to the refinery's No.2 crude unit. Another fire on Jan. 3 broke out in a Residual Desulfurization Unit (RDS). The RDS treats feed for the FCC unit, said Chevron. The fire was quickly extinguished and it's believed the fire was weather related. Atypical freezing temperatures in the region may have affected instrumentation, Chevron spokesman Steve Renfroe told OPIS. Chevron is investigating, he said. Meanwhile, Chevron plans to spend about $500 million to construct a Continuous Catalytic Regeneration unit that is expected to increase gasoline output by about 10%, or about 600,000 gal/day. Chevron expects to break ground on the project during the first quarter of 2008, a company spokesman told OPIS. Citgo -- the 340,000-b/d Lake Charles, La., refinery will see a 50,000-b/d FCC down in February for 45 days, with a crude unit and DHT down from November into January. Citgo is expected to delay the restart of a reformer at the plant to sometime in February instead of the original plan for mid-January. However, the 125,000-b/d crude unit will restart as planned around Jan. 13. The crude unit, together with the reformer, was taken down in early November for about two and half months to sort out nagging operational problems. Citgo -- the 165,000-b/d Corpus Christi plant experienced a tube leak in the flue gas waste heat boiler January 1st. The heat boiler is being bypassed during maintenance activity. ConPhil -- began planned maintenance on Unit 29 (electrostatic precipitators) at the 152,000-b/d Borger, Texas, refinery on Dec. 18. ConPhil will switch valves on ducting upstream of equipment. The maintenance was scheduled to end Dec. 28. Delek -- the 60,000-b/d refiner launched a planned turnaround on Jan. 4 on a diesel hydrotreater at its Tyler, Texas, refinery. The work will involve a catalyst change out and substantive repairs to the DHT cooling tower. During the DHT maintenance, work will be done at an amine unit resulting in operational outages at the sulfur recovery plant, sour water stripper, and the NHT. Downtime is expected to last through Jan. 10. ExxonMobil -- the 590,000-b/d Baytown, Texas, refinery will see a 95,000-b/d crude unit and 40,000-b/d coker down Jan. 12 for 40 days. ExxonMobil -- the 363,000-b/d Beaumont refinery will have a 117,000-b/d FCC and associated alkylation unit down beginning about March 1 for 60 days. ExxonMobil -- plans to take down a reformer and hydrofiner at the 525,000 b/d Baton Rouge refiner in January. Koch (Flint Hills) -- the 305,000-b/d Corpus Christi refinery will see a 90,000-b/d crude unit and coker down into early January as a result of a Dec. 1 turnaround. Lazarus Energy LLC -- plans to begin operating the 18,000-b/d Nixon, Texas refinery in first quarter 2008. Lazarus acquired the Nixon Refinery in 2006 and is currently completing its refurbishment. The refinery currently has the capacity to process 15,000 b/d of crude and to store over 130,000 bbl of crude and 165,000 bbl of refined products. Lazarus has received all necessary permits to begin operations in first quarter 2008. Marathon -- the 275,000-b/d Garyville, La., refinery will take a 130,000-b/d crude unit and 35,000-b/d coker down in early January for 40 days. Motiva -- the 275,000-b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery will shut down a waste heat boiler for repairs due to previous leaks in mid-January. This maintenance usually causes a slight cut in rates. The maintenance is planned to last through Feb. 3. Shell -- the 340,000-b/d Deer Park, Texas, refinery will take down a 70,000- b/d FCC and 18,500-b/d alkylation unit on Jan. 18 for 45 days. Total -- shut one crude unit at its 240,000-b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery for a planned turnaround about Jan. 8 for two weeks. Valero -- the 340,000-b/d Corpus Christi complex, West Plant, was scheduled to have a 40,000-b/d crude unit and coker down beginning Jan. 10 for 14 days. That work has been postponed until May. Valero -- the 166,000-b/d McKee refinery, which has been operating at reduced rates since a fire in a propane de-asphalting unit in February 2007, is expected to return to full rates by the end of January. Valero -- the 265,000-b/d Port Arthur refinery will carry out maintenance on a coker in late January or early February to reduce cracks in the coker drums. The coker at Port Arthur has six drums, and two will be worked on at a time and the other four will remain operational, minimizing impact on production. The maintenance work on each two-drum module is expected to take a total of 25 days. Valero -- the 186,000-b/d St. Charles (Norco) refinery will take a 100,000- b/d FCC and associated alkylation unit down Feb. 1 for 20 days. PADD4/5: BP -- the 263,000-b/d Carson, Calif., (Los Angeles) refinery will take down a 102,000-b/d FCC and associated alkylation unit in January for 60 days. CHS -- the 60,000-b/d Laurel refinery's new $325 million coker unit is scheduled to begin start up on Jan. 30 and be fully operational within the first quarter of 2008. The coker will increase annual production of gasoline by 80 million gallons. Frontier -- a delayed coker unit at the 52,000-b/d Cheyenne, Wyoming, refinery damaged in a fire in mid-December will be offline until at least mid- January. During repairs, the company expects to continue running the crude unit at reduced rates of about 25,000 b/d. * Shell -- has shut a 73,000-b/d catalytic cracker at its 158,000-b/d Martinez refinery in northern California for a two-week turnaround. Tesoro -- plans to take a crude unit down at the 170,000-b/d Golden Eagle refinery in Martinez, Calif., in February for 30 days and start up a coker at its Golden Eagle refinery during the second quarter of 2008. Work to modify the unit began during the fourth quarter of 2005. Tesoro also plans the start-up of a selective hydrogenation unit at the Anacortes, Wash., refinery, which will reduce the cost of goods sold at that plant by allowing Tesoro to purchase less expensive sour feedstock. Construction on the project began last year, and the unit is slated to start during the third quarter of 2008. Valero -- the 153,000-b/d Benicia refinery will see a 37,500-b/d hydrocracker down Feb. 10 for 12 days. The turnaround in an FCC and alky unit at Valero's 77,000-b/d Wilmington refinery was completed later than planned, but units had restarted by mid-January. OFFSHORE: Valero -- the 215,000-b/d Quebec refinery will take down the 50,000-b/d #2 crude unit on March 10 for 42 days. The 270,000-b/d Aruba refinery was downed Jan. 8 by a power outage. Downtime was expected to last about two weeks, said traders. Harvest Energy -- the 115,000-b/d Come-by-Chance refinery has completed maintenance previously planned for Spring 2008 in December 2007. The plant's crude unit was shut in late October for 30 days of maintenance. PDVSA -- the 600,000-b/d Amuay refinery and the 300,000-b/d Cardon refinery - - both in the Paraguana refining complex -- have been operating at reduced rates, and now there's word that the 135,000-b/d El Palito refinery had its catalytic cracker taken offline Saturday because of a mechanical malfunction. A mid-January power outage completely downed the 600,000-b/d Amuay complex. At presstime, two of five crude units were back online, but the refinery had no ability to upgrade due to a lack of steam, sources told OPIS. Steam generation will depend on when power can be restored to the steam generators, said sources . The Cardon refinery in mid-January was said to be in the process of restart following a power outage that hit the plant in December that has hobbled the refinery since then. The restart reportedly began Jan. 12, and most units were said to be operating at about 50% capacity by Jan. 16. An alkylation unit was among those that had not yet resumed operations. Sources indicate that an acid leak damaged the alkylation unit and thus complicated its restart. The El Palito refinery lost a 55,000-b/d FCC in mid-January for two to three weeks of unplanned maintenance. An initial investigation showed the FCC unit to have suffered minor damage from the incident. Petroplus -- the 170,000-b/d Coryton, U.K., refinery should resume normal operations in early 2008 following repairs to a dehexanizer column of the pentane isomerization unit following a fire on Oct. 31, 2007. --OPIS Staff Report Note: If you have a question about upcoming maintenance, or know of some refining work that did not make this OPIS Special Report, just send an email to tkloza@opisnet.com and we'll investigate. PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS: The 70/30 Split and the Refined Spot prices for the U.S. Gulf Coast are based on the Gulf Coast Waterborne Unleaded Regular Full Day Average Prompt and Gulf Coast Waterborne High Sulfur No2 Full Day Average Prompt prices. The differentials for Naphtha and Light Cycle Oil prices are always against the Gulf Coast Waterborne Prompt Unleaded and No2 spot prices respectively. The 70/30 Split and the Refined Spot prices for the U.S. West Coast are based on the Los Angeles Unleaded Regular Full Day Average Prompt and Los Angeles Ultra Low Sulfur No 2 Full Day Average Prompt prices. The Refined Spot prices for the U.S. East Coast are based on the NY Harbor Barge Unleaded Regular Full Day Average Prompt and NY Harbor Barge High Sulfur No2 Full Day Average Prompt prices. The midgrade and premium prices, where applicable, also refer to the same gasoline Spot products. Copyright, Oil Price Information Service. Transmitted every business day by Oil Price Information Service, 11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 1100, Rockville, MD. 20852-3030. Photocopying or other reproduction without written permission is strictly prohibited by law. Editor, Diane T. Miller, (732) 223-8685. For a limited copyright waiver, call 1-888-301-2645.