HollyFrontier steps up blending of sour crude with lighter grades at Navajo.

摘要

The US independent refiner bumped up the amount of sour crude processed in its Permian-Basin-fed 1 lOK-b/d Navajo refinery in Artesia, New Mexico, in 1Q 2019 to 75% of its slate since crude produced in the Delaware Basin is becoming lighter. Navajo receives all of its crude from the Permian, and the lightening of the barrel for Delaware Basin crudes means more West Texas Sour (WTS) is needed to blend down the WTI, widening the discount WTI holds to WTS in 2Q. In 1Q, light-sweet grades fell to 16% of the refinery's slate from 31% run in 1Q 2018, when sour crude comprised 60% of the slate. HollyFrontier's Head of Commercial Operations, Thomas Creery, said, "Where we do business in the Delaware Basin, we see a lot more light crudes coming onstream and not as many of the sour crudes." He went on to say that sour crude prices are being pushed higher since the lighter grades need to be blended down to the WTI range of specifications.