Crude Oil Rises as Exxon Mobil Shuts Furnaces at Texas Refinery

Crude oil rose for a second day after Exxon Mobil Corp. shut furnaces at a gasoline-making unit in its Baytown, Texas, refinery, the largest in the U.S.

The shutdowns at the fluid catalytic cracker began at 8 a.m. yesterday, according to a filing with the state’s Commission on Environmental Quality. Baytown can process 557,000 barrels of oil a day, Energy Department figures show. The problem came in the week leading up to Memorial Day, the start of the vacation season, when U.S. gasoline demand peaks.

“This is the time of year when any refinery glitch will send prices higher,” said Rick Mueller, an analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Massachusetts. “Gasoline supplies have been rising and are at comfortable levels but demand will perk up at the end of the week. Inventories will start to fall in coming weeks because demand is rising.”
Bloomberg