Gasoline Surges as Refinery Outages Create Supply Shock

Gasoline prices continue to surge higher despite a drag from crude oil, which appears to be stuck near $50 per barrel.  Both gasoline and distillate cracks have surged on the back of supply disruptions and a steel workers strike that saw 10% of the US’s active refineries go idle.

In mid-February, an explosion and fire occurred at ExxonMobil’s refinery in Torrance, California. The Torrance refinery,…