Valero: Suspending Gasoline Sales in California Spot Markets
October 5th, 2012Via: NASDAQ:
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) said Thursday it temporarily stopped selling gasoline in California’s wholesale market as a string of refinery outages resulted in a regional gasoline shortage.
Analysts fear the scramble for the motor fuel will send prices in the state close to $5 a gallon and force some gas stations to close.
The lack of gasoline has pushed California’s wholesale, or spot, prices of $4.10 a gallon Thursday, a 39% increase from Aug. 6, the day an explosion shut down Chevron Corp.’s (CVX) 245,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Richmond. Those prices don’t include taxes, transportation and other fees, which typically add another 70 cents or more before the gas reaches the pump.
Valero said it will met its current contracts to supply gasoline, but won’t sell into the spot market. But spokesman Bill Day said resumption of spot sales “will depend on markets and inventories.”
