Its a quiet week in the U.S. base oil market, with no reports of price movements.
Last week Ergon Refining in Vicksburg, Miss., experienced mechanical problems on a crude unit heater, and the company was forced to shut the unit down.The unit is still down, the company reports, and is not expected to return to normal operation until mid-October.
“Our plan going forward is two-fold,” Ergon said yesterday. “First, repair the damage as quickly and safely as possible. Crews are working around the clock to make repairs. Second, we continue to produce base oils from sizeable feedstock inventory. These feedstocks were accumulated prior to this operational issue.”
Ergons Vicksburg plant, with 19,000 barrels per day of naphthenic capacity, is the worlds largest pale oil refinery.
Chevron continues on allocations, but in general sources say the paraffinic side of the business is going well.
At the close of the Tuesday, Sept. 21, NYMEX session, light sweet crude futures settled at $73.52 per barrel, a loss of $3.28 compared to the Sept. 14 settlement at $76.80/bbl.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.