June 2, 2012:

BP PLC took down a crude-distillation unit for unplanned maintenance at its refinery in Whiting, Ind., a person familiar with the plant's operations said Friday. The crude unit was the smallest of the three at the 405,000-barrel-a-day refinery, the source said. It was unknown when the unit would come back online. Crude-distillation units are used in the first step in refining oil. The downed unit sent Midwest fuel spot prices higher. Chicago's spot conventional-blendstock for oxygenate blending, or CBOB, traded up to a 10-cent a gallon premium to July Nymex, up from 6 cents over the benchmark on Thursday, a Chicago trader said.

Ultralow-sulfur diesel fuel for prompt delivery in Chicago was quoted as high as 22 cents a gallon over July Nymex heating oil futures, although other trades were done only as high as 16 cents over the benchmark. ULSD traded between 10 cents and 11 cents over July Nymex on Thursday. BP is spending several billion dollars to upgrade the plant to process heavy crude oil, mainly from western Canada.

By Dow Jones Newswires