Ocotober 4, 2013 [OPIS] - Nustar Energy is expected to shut down its Portland, Ore., terminal next week due to pipeline testing, West Coast trade sources told OPIS on Thursday.
Nustar customers have until Monday to ship supplies into the Portland terminal before operations are closed to line testing, which is expected to take a week.
“I was contemplating buying some gas and the terminal manager said [supplies] had to be in the terminal before the 7th. … They were closing down a line from the 7th-14th and then would resume receiving offline barrels starting the 15th,” one trader said.
A Nustar terminal manager was not immediately available to comment on the expected shutdown.
Nustar’s Portland terminal, which is located on the Willamette River, houses 31 refined products storage tanks, with a total capacity of 1.191 million bbl.
It receives product via the Olympic Pipe Line Portland station and can deliver to the Kinder Morgan pump station and to local terminals. The Portland terminal can also receive deliveries via rail and barge, and has a truck facility with two automated loading racks.
The short-order time frame for getting supplies to the terminal has resulted in a spike in the Pacific Northwest diesel fuel spot market, while gasoline trades were disconnected depending on origin.
Cash differentials for October prompt ULSD shot up about 4.75cts/gal this afternoon after trading at 3-5cts/gal above the NYMEX November ULSD contract. Outright prices neared $3.0450/gal, driven higher by stronger cash trading at presstime.
Meanwhile, prompt pipeline sub-octane barrels were trading much weaker than the
Nustar terminal market, with offline deals confirmed at 5-6cts/gal above the November RBOB contract, and a terminal trade confirmed at the Merc plus 10.5cts/gal. Sub-octane outright prices were slightly firmer on the day around $2.69-$2.7450/gal at presstime.
