Phillips 66 Borger refinery plans Oct work: Update

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Oil products
20/09/23

Adds market price reaction.

Phillips 66's 149,000 b/d Borger, Texas, refinery is planning seasonal maintenance beginning in early October.

The turnaround is expected to last until late November, according to market sources with knowledge of Phillips 66's operations.

The refinery completed week-long maintenance work on its fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) Tuesday and is running at normal rates.

Phillips 66 declined to comment on refinery operations.

Permian light sour crude West Texas Sour (WTS) traded at a $1.75/bl discount to WTI Midland yesterday, and is so far averaging around a $1.26/bl discount for October delivery so far this trade month, compared with a 63¢/bl average discount for September trade.

The company placed customers of the Borger refinery on allocation in June after a hydrotreater unit was taken off line, severely curtailing supply to nearby west Texas fuel markets in Amarillo and Lubbock. Phillips 66restored fuel allocations from Borger in July.

US refiners are planning turnarounds affecting up to 2mn b/d of North American refining capacity for the remainder of the year, with the bulk of the work starting this month.

On the Gulf coast, LyondellBasell's 265,000 b/d Houston, Texas, refinery is undergoing an FCC turnaround in the fourth quarter. With Borger also conducting maintenance, some 414,000 b/d of Texas refinery capacity could be off line in the final months of the year.

By Nathan Risser and Scott Phillips

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