April 3, 2012:

Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened after Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) shut a fluid catalytic cracker for maintenance at the McKee refinery in Texas. The 55,000-barrel-a-day unit was taken offline over the weekend for the work that’s expected to last five weeks, Bill Day, a Valero spokesman, said in an e-mail statement. It is the plant’s only fluid catalytic cracker, he said.

The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in the Gulf Coast (MOSGC87P) narrowed 0.88 cent to 10.5 cents under New York Mercantile Exchange futures at 1:39 p.m., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prompt delivery rose 5.75 cents to $3.2519 a gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, strengthened 0.12 cent to a premium of 6.5 cents a gallon.

Valero will shut a fluid catalytic cracker for work at its Houston refinery in September, said two people familiar with the plans, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The Houston refinery has a capacity of 145,000 barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

By Bloomberg