Gasoline records, Nigerian troubles and security problems

• Published in: Oil and Energy Trends
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2007
• Subjects: General Medicine; Alaska North Slope; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7992.2007.320606.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1744-7992.2007.320606.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1744-7992.2007.320606.x

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'. Gasoline reached record prices in the US as inventories fell and demand rose. Average retail prices hit $3.11/gal in mid‐month before falling slightly. Supplies were squeezed by a series of unexpected refinery shutdowns and problems were reported meeting new fuel specification ( see 'Focus', March 2006 ). Partly in response to the lower than expected refinery runs, the price differential of WTI fell to a record $6.30/bbl below BFO. The US remained generally oversupplied with crude oil despite the temporary loss of 100,000 bpd of Alaska North Slope (ANS) production in yet another disruption to BP's operations there ( see 'The Month in Brief', November 2006 ). President George W Bush meanwhile declared that federal government departments must investigate further ways of improving US energy efficiency.