Crude market reacts to Bukom blaze, shows unusual volatility in price spread

This as the fire caused Shell to cancel the lifting of 4 million barrels of crude.

A Reuters report said, “The closure of Shell's 500,000 barrel-per-day refinery, its largest in the world, has led the oil major to cancel the lifting of 4 million barrels of crude, to wind down its petrochemical complex and to declare force majeure on some of its deals, mostly involving distillates.”

The impact of the fire, according to the report, has extended into the crude and naphtha markets, strengthening price spreads for both markets.

“The fire last week severely damaged the equipment that controls the outflow of most of the refinery's clean oil products, including gasoline, naphtha and middle distillates, from processing units to storage tanks,” said the report.

View the report here.