April 21, 2012:

California-blend gasoline strengthened against futures after ConocoPhillips (COP) said it plans to flare gases at its Wilmington refinery through April 24 and distillate inventories touched a seven-month low on the West Coast last week.  The 97,000-barrel-a-day Tesoro Wilmington refinery in Southern California will begin flaring gases at midnight local time, according to a filing with the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The flaring isn’t related to a breakdown, the filing said.

California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in Los Angeles rose 0.5 cent to a premium of 3.5 cents a gallon against futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 4:36 p.m. East Coast time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. San Francisco Carbob climbed 0.5 cent to a premium of 7.5 cents a gallon against gasoline futures. Gasoline inventories on the West Coast, known as the Padd 5 region, dropped 1.2 million barrels, or 3.9 percent, to 29.7 million barrels in the week to April 13, the Energy Department said. That’s the lowest level since Dec. 30.

Distillate fuel oil inventories on the West Coast tumbled to the lowest level since November, falling by 803,000 barrels, or 6.2 percent, to 12.2 million barrels, the department said. CARB diesel in Los Angeles slipped 0.25 cent to a premium of 6.75 cents a gallon versus Nymex heating oil futures. The same fuel in San Francisco increased 0.75 cent to a 12-cent premium. Conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Portland, Oregon was unchanged at a 5.5-cent premium against gasoline futures. Low- sulfur diesel there fell 1 cent to a premium of 20.5 cents a gallon versus heating oil futures.

ByBloomberg