Gasoline, Diesel to Baltimore mostly Supplied by Pipeline
3/26 12:48 PM
Gasoline, Diesel to Baltimore mostly Supplied by Pipeline
CRANBURY, N.J. (DTN) -- The early Tuesday collapse of the Francis Scott Key
Bridge in Baltimore caused within seconds of being struck by a 948-foot cargo
vessel called the Dali is a tragedy and has bottled up barge movement in
Baltimore Harbor but is unlikely to affect gasoline or diesel fuel supply for
the city.
Fuel to the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. markets is primarily delivered by
Line 4 of the Colonial Pipeline, a 504,000-bpd mixed product pipeline that
terminates at Dorsey Junction in Maryland. There are four pipeline spurs from
Dorsey that connect to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Curtis Bay,
and south Baltimore. Three of the line spurs carry mixed fuels with pipeline
capacity totaling roughly 188,800 bpd. The fourth line is dedicated to kerosene
jet fuel to the BWI airport with a capacity of about 28,800 bpd.
Colonial's 855,000-bpd Line 3 mixed product pipeline continues from Dorsey
to the Aberdeen Junction, and ends in Linden, New Jersey. A line spur with
about 62,400 bpd of mixed product capacity from Aberdeen connects with north
Baltimore.
There are both inbound and outbound waterborne fuel movements from the Port
of Baltimore, although these are of far smaller volume. Outbound barge
movements from the Port of Baltimore are "primarily delivered to small markets
along the rivers and tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay," notes ICF
International.
RBOB at the Houston origination point for the Colonial Pipeline was assessed
at a 6.5cts discount to May RBOB futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange
early Tuesday afternoon, putting spot price at about $2.6375 gallon. The RBOB
rack average for Baltimore is $2.6835 gallon, less than a 5cts tariff on the
Colonial Pipeline.
The prompt cycle in Houston is for 7.1psi Reid vapor pressure reformulated
gasoline which began shipping with cycle 17. Current trading is for cycle 19,
with RBOB RVP moving to the summer 7.4psi RVP with cycle 20. The remaining
transit time for cycle 17 from Houston to Dorsey is about 17 days for gasoline,
which explains the tight Houston spot to Baltimore rack spread since Baltimore
reformulated gasoline is for the higher 13.5psi RVP.
Blending costs could rise, however, on higher ethanol prices should barge
deliveries of the blendstock be delayed by the collapse of the bridge.
Brian L. Milne, 1.732.768.0260, brian.milne@dtn.com, www.dtn.com.
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