Crude gains on refinery problems

Crude oil prices were a bit higher Wednesday on reports of refinery problems in the US and ahead of weekly US inventories figures from last week, delayed until Thursday because of the holiday Monday.

Prices were held higher by reports of new refinery problems in Port Arthur, Texas, and by an announcement from Chevron (NYSE: CVC) that damage from a fire in its Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery will take “months” to repair.

Analysts expect crude oil and gasoline stockpiles to be lower, but distillates inventories are expected to be up by around 1 million barrels, and refinery utilization is expected to be steady at 90.3 percent.

Brent crude for October delivery added 5 cents to $73.97 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London, while October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude traded 70 cents higher to $75.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex October gasoline was 1 cent higher to $2.00 per gallon, while October heating oil was up 2 cents to $2.10 per gallon and October natural gas had added 18 cents to $5.81 per million British thermal units.