REFINERY NEWS: ExxonMobil says still without power at Joliet refinery after tornado hits region

ExxonMobil is still without power at its 251,800 b/d Joliet refinery in Channahon, Illinois, after a heavy storms and a tornado which struck very close to the plant took out power to the region, a company spokesperson said July 18.

"We're still waiting for power to return. We're grateful no one at the site was injured," Catie Tuley said in an email.

"Our refinery lost power abruptly during the tornado. As we work to restart operations, power restoration is critical as we assess the equipment. We are grateful to those working to restore power to the site and our community," she added.

The power at the facility went out at 10:05 pm CT, according to the July 15 filing made with the Illinois Emergency Management.

The refinery outage had an outsized impact on the Chicago refined-products market because ExxonMobil was unable to supply fuel to its partners, one source said.

"It appears that ExxonMobil has cut off its exchange partners. So Exxon, BP, [Phillips 66] and [Marathon] are all out buying origin barrels," said one Midwestern market source, noting BP, Phillips 66 and Marathon are supplied by ExxonMobil.

On July 17, Platts assessments showed Chicago CBOB differentials for both Wolverine and Buckeye barrels had moved into positive territory against the NYMEX August RBOB futures. Wolverine barrels were assessed at a flat price of $2.5213/gal putting it at a 2 cents/gal premium to futures, compared with a 14.25 cents/gal discount on July 16. Buckeye barrels traded at a flat price of $2.5113/gal on July 17, versus the July 16 14.25 cent/gal discount, according to Platts assessments, trading at a 1 cent/gal premium to futures. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

In the Midwest, generic Chicago pipeline ULSD was assessed 21.50 cents stronger at NYMEX ULSD August futures plus 3.75 cents/gal on July 17, according to Platts assessments.

An EF-2 tornado touched down just across Interstate 55 from the refinery on July 15, according to the National Weather Service. The Enhanced Fujita Scale is used to measure tornados and an EF-1 tornado has 3-second gusts of 111-135 mph.

Citgo was seen as a seller into the Chicago market, the market source said.

This was confirmed by a Citgo spokesperson, who confirmed the Lemont refinery was spared from impact of the severe weather that caused power outages across the region on July 15.

"The Citgo Lemont refinery operations remained stable and reliable through the storm period," the spokesperson said in a July 17 email.

"However, some of our third-party partners experienced issues, and we have worked closely with them to ensure supply of product to our customers," the spokesperson added.

A company spokesperson for Marathon declined to comment on operations, while a Phillips 66 spokesperson said Wood River was operating normally. Company representatives for BP were not immediately available for comment.