June 16, 2012:

Gasoline strengthened in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay spot markets on Friday after a storage tank leak at a Phillips 66 refinery, traders said. June-delivery CARBOB gasoline strengthened 3 cents and was offered at 5 cents a gallon under July NYMEX RBOB gasoline in both California markets after Phillips reported a release at its 120,200 barrel-per-day (bpd) Rodeo, California, refinery. A Phillips spokesman said the a leak from a storage tank caused a release of water used in the refining process. The water has a foul smell like rotten eggs. Refinery production was unaffected.

In the Portland, Oregon, market, gasoline remained at 17 cents under July NYMEX RBOB gasoline. CARB diesel in Los Angeles rose 0.5 cent in a bid-offer spread of 3.5 cents/4.5 cents over July NYMEX heating oil. In the Bay market, CARB diesel was offered 0.5 cent over L.A. Portland market diesel rose 0.5 cent to 8.5 cents a gallon over July NYMEX heating oil. Jet fuel in Los Angeles traded down 0.5 cent at 7.5 cents a gallon over July NYMEX heating oil. CARBOB and CARB diesel get their names from the California Air Resources Board, which mandates their formulas. CARBOB is a gasoline meant for use with ethanol. CARB diesel is intended to reduce pollution in California's major metropolitan areas.

Outside California's cities, ultra-low sulfur diesel as authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is used.

By Reuters