Calgary-based Cenovus Energy is restarting 190,000 b/d of US refining capacity in the second quarter at two fire-damaged facilities in Ohio and Wisconsin.
Cenovus' 150,800 b/d Toledo, Ohio, refinery started its smaller 30,000 b/d crude unit in April and expects to restart a 120,000 b/d unit in May, the company said today. The Toledo refinery has been offline since a September 2022 explosion killed two workers.
The 38,000 b/d Superior, Wisconsin, refinery restarted operations in mid-March and is expected to return to full operations during the second quarter, Cenovus said. That refinery has been in the process of being rebuilt following a 2018 blast that injured 11 workers.
The Toledo refinery began producing refined products in April, while the Superior refinery is expected to start refined product sales sometime in the second quarter.
Cenovus' refinery outages in the US midcontinent — alongside unit shutdowns at Valero's 86,000 b/d Ardmore, Oklahoma, refinery — widened regional Chicago RBOB gasoline prices this week to their steepest premium over conventional CBOB gasoline since the summer of 2019.