MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for March 9th:

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— Filing: Valero Reports Emissions at Texas City Refinery

— Analysis: U.S. Fuel Supply Resilient Despite Price Jump

— EIA: U.S. Transport Fuel Exports Averaged 2.4M Bpd in 2025

— U.S. Rack Gasoline Prices Climb 40.59cts on Week
 

NEWS:

Filing: Valero Reports Emissions at Texas City Refinery

Valero reported Monday (3/9) an emissions event at its  260,000 bpd Texas City refinery after a heavy rainstorm triggered a series of safety system failures on Sunday (3/8), according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The storm tripped multiple safety interlocks, causing a safety shutdown of the South Plant Sulfur Recovery Unit/Tail Gas Unit (SRU/TGU) and an upset at the Gas Oil Hydrotreater (GOHT) SRU Trains No. 1 and No. 2. The event lasted approximately over two hours, the company stated.

The GOHT incinerator released an estimated 2,137.38 pounds of sulfur dioxide, while the South Plant incinerator released 215.69 pounds of sulfur dioxide. Both releases exceeded the authorized limits. The incident remains open, according to the filing.

Analysis: U.S. Fuel Supply Resilient Despite Price Jump

On Monday, a gallon of regular retail gasoline in the U.S. averaged $3.478, up from $2.997 last week and $2.902 last month. Diesel prices at the pump shot up even more, jumping 24% in just one week to $4.656 gallon. So far, retail fuel prices have been lifted by soaring oil and product futures caused by supply outages from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Domestic refiners’ physical crude and feedstock supplies have so far been unaffected, but a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz will have consequences beyond the initial price spike – even if a repeat of the energy crisis of the 1970s is unlikely.

U.S. refiners have over the past two decades weaned themselves off their dependence of Middle Eastern oil. Total petroleum imports from the Persian Gulf fell to their lowest since 1985 last year, averaging 676,000 bpd, most of which was crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The shale boom since the mid-2010s saw domestic grades replace an ever-larger share of imported crude, and new pipelines transporting heavy sour crude oil from Canada directly to U.S. refiners pushed out expensive tanker deliveries from Mexico, Venezuela and the Persian Gulf. In fact, while the share of crude from foreign origin has been stable over the last few years, hovering around 38%, U.S. refiners’ reliance on tankers has still dropped markedly. In 2024, the last full year with available EIA data, crude imported via tanker accounted for 15% of domestic refiners’ diet, compared to 27% just a decade earlier.

Domestic fuel supply is far less vulnerable because of this. In addition, the U.S. has some 415 million bbl in strategic stockpiles, mostly in the form of heavier sour grades which can plug the import gap. While the SPR has shrunk considerably since the 2010s, so have crude imports from the Middle East – reserves are thus still representing more than two years’ worth of imports from the region.

U.S. refiners’ changed crude diet and their reduced exposure to a tanker market which over the past ten days saw a blowout in charter rates puts them in a better position compared to international peers, but doesn’t render them immune to soaring costs on a global market. Prices at the pump will continue to rise for as long as the crisis lasts as the U.S. is heading towards peak summer demand season – or until fuel demand takes a hit as driving becomes cost-prohibitive to many consumers.

EIA: U.S. Transport Fuel Exports Averaged 2.4M Bpd in 2025

U.S. exports of major transportation fuels — including distillate fuel oil, motor gasoline, and jet fuel — remained steady in 2025, averaging 2.4 million bpd, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a review issued Monday (3/9).

While total volumes matched 2024 levels, distillate fuel oil exports saw a 3% decline, falling by 35,000 bpd from the previous year, the EIA stated.

Mexico maintained its position as the primary destination for these exports, particularly for gasoline, receiving 54% of total U.S. gasoline shipments.

Gasoline exports saw a slight uptick, rising 3% to reach an annual average of 902,000 bpd.

Shipments of kerosene-type jet fuel averaged 219,000 bpd, with Mexico and Canada serving as the top two international destinations.

U.S. Rack Gasoline Prices Climb 40.59cts on Week

Wholesale rack prices for gasoline across the United States moved higher Monday as geopolitical tensions tied to Iran continued to inject risk premium into global energy markets, lifting refined products alongside crude benchmarks.

Conventional unleaded gasoline rack prices averaged $2.8281 gallon, an increase of 9.75cts from Friday’s $2.7306 gallon, according to DTN data. The national average has climbed 40.59cts since last Monday, when rack gasoline averaged $2.4222 gallon, reflecting the broader rally in crude and refined product futures over the past week.

Nationwide ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) rack prices averaged $3.7255 gallon, rising 2.72cts from Friday’s $3.6983 gallon. The increase follows last week’s sharp advance, when ULSD racks surged more than $1 gallon over the prior week.

On gasoline racks, PADD 4 posted the largest increase, rising 10.71cts to $2.5025 gallon, followed by PADD 5, up 8.19cts to $3.4310 gallon. PADD 2 climbed 8.02cts to $2.3201 gallon, while PADD 3 increased 6.58cts to $2.3766 gallon. PADD 1 saw the smallest rise, gaining 6.38cts to $2.4635 gallon, the same data showed.

Compared with the national average of $2.8281 gallon, all regions traded at a discount except PADD 5, which stood at a 60.29cts premium to the U.S. benchmark. The deepest discount was seen in PADD 2 at 50.80cts below the national average, followed by PADD 3 at 45.15cts, PADD 1 at 36.46cts, and PADD 4 at 32.56cts below the benchmark.

ULSD racks were mixed across the five PADDs. The largest increase occurred in PADD 4, where prices rose 14.57cts to $3.4447 gallon. PADD 5 climbed 2.78cts to $4.2419 gallon, while PADD 1 increased 2.21cts to $3.9025 gallon. PADD 2 edged up 0.58cts to $3.4982 gallon, while PADD 3 slipped 0.20cts to $3.6940 gallon.

Relative to the national ULSD rack average of $3.7255 gallon, PADD 5 held the strongest premium at 51.64cts, followed by PADD 1 at 17.70cts above the U.S. benchmark. PADD 3 traded slightly below the national average at a 3.15cts discount, while PADD 2 and PADD 4 stood at 22.73cts and 28.08cts below the national average, respectively.

In the futures market, the front-month NYMEX ULSD contract for April delivery traded at $3.8340 gallon, up 30.89cts, while NYMEX RBOB gasoline for April rose 21.05cts to $2.9571 gallon. Crude benchmarks also extended gains, with WTI April crude trading at $101.14 barrel, up $10.19, marking the first time the benchmark has traded above $100 since the first half of 2022 as markets continued to price in geopolitical risk tied to developments in the Middle East.