Explorer Restores Normal Operations After August Tank Fire


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- Explorer Pipeline has fully restored normal operations 
along its 1,830-mile system following an August 17 tank farm fire in Tulsa, 
Oklahoma, easing midstream flow constraints into Midwest distribution hubs.

   "Operations are back to normal," Catherine Divis, spokesperson for Explorer 
Pipeline Company, confirmed in an email response on Friday (9/25) to a DTN 
query.

   The return to normal service resolves weeks of operational uncertainty 
across regional supply channels after the fire damaged three tanks at the 
line's Glenpool breakout station, restricting batch scheduling and product 
movements into Wood River and Chicago hubs.

   The restoration of full pipeline throughput provides much-needed logistical 
relief to Midwest fuel markets, where spot traders had been navigating thin 
liquidity and severe basis swings amid concurrent refining disruptions.

   Regional supply balances faced additional pressure earlier this month 
following a September 13 site-wide power outage and secondary pump flooding at 
ExxonMobil's 275,000 bpd Joliet refinery in Channahon, Illinois, which 
temporarily restricted refined product flows into major Chicago distribution 
channels.

   Energy Information Administration data showed PADD 2 refiner crude 
processing dropped to 3.802 million bpd for the week ended September 18, 
pulling regional utilization down 11 percentage points to 89% and driving 
distillate inventories down by 1.6 million bbl to a multi-month low of 27.2 
million bbl.

   With pipeline operations fully restored and Joliet units undergoing 
step-by-step restart procedures, physical market participants expect steadying 
inbound product flows to help stabilize regional spot basis levels as 
agricultural harvest demand accelerates across the Midcontinent.

    




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