Gasoline Reaches Record High in New York; Exports Abroad

• Gasoline Reaches Record High in New York; Exports Abroad

Traders are now exporting gasoline and diesel from New York harbor, a region that normally relies on import from eastern Canada and Europe, data compiled by Bloomberg has revealed.

According to the report, at least 6 cargoes from Europe were diverted in January and early February to the U.S. Gulf Coast or the Caribbean, still it wasn’t enough to stem the oversupply building up in terminals along the Eastern Seaboard.

Experts have said the surge in inventories level is pushing prices lower and could disrupt trade flow in days to come.

“We have been exporting out of the New York Harbor, but clearly not enough, so that’s putting pressure on the products,” said Robert Campbell, head of oil products research for Energy Aspects.

In coming days, about two million barrels of fine gasoline and diesel will be exported from New York harbor and Philadelphia to West Africa and Europe by companies like BP Plc and Glencore Plc as the U.S. East Coast gasoline stockpiles reached a new record high for the third consecutive week.

Gasoline supplies in the Central Atlantic region of the East Coast, the delivery point for New York Mercantile Exchange futures contracts, increased to a record 42.3 million barrels last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Imports of fuel to the entire East Coast averaged about 350,000 barrels a day in the first 11 months of 2016 while exports averaged 138,000 barrels, EIA data show.

Also, the total U.S. gasoline stocks rose to a record 259 million barrels, even as American refiners produce less fuel during the height of refinery maintenance season.

U.S. crude unit outages are expected to average about 1 million barrels a day this month, and peaked last week at 1.29 million, the data showed.