HOUSTON (Reuters) – California gasoline climbed to $1.07 a gallon over NYMEX December gasoline in the Los Angeles wholesale market following a Tuesday night fire at Chevron Corp’s El Segundo, California, refinery, said West Coast market traders.
Traders said California gasoline, called CARBOB, for November delivery opened at $1.00 over the NYMEX December value before hitting $1.07 a gallon over.
Chevron spokesperson Tyler Kruzich said there were no injuries from the fire and the blaze was extinguished after about two hours.
“The isolated fire did not occur at any of the refinery’s major process units and does not impact the refinery’s ability to supply petroleum products to its customers in the region,” Kruzich said.
Traders said they accepted Chevron’s description of the fire’s location away from major process unit at the Los Angeles-area refinery.
Gasoline in the Los Angeles market had been moving upward for the past two weeks and last traded at 96.5 cents on Tuesday due to a power outage at a northern California refinery and planned work at a plant in southern California.
Tight fuel supplies on the West Coast would continue to keep prices elevated, traders said.
In the San Francisco market, November CARBOB was valued at 80 cents a gallon over December NYMEX RBOB.
In the Pacific Northwest market, gasoline was 72 cents a gallon over the NYMEX.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Grant McCool)
