Enterprise Products Partners declared force majeure on polymer-grade propylene Wednesday due to feedstock concerns stemming from recent refinery outages in Texas, multiple market sources said.
The declaration could last through May, although no allocations were presently in effect, Enterprise said in an e-mail to customers.
Power outages idled the BP, Marathon, and Valero refineries in Texas City, Texas, on Monday night and early Tuesday morning, triggering a shelter-in-place declaration that lasted through mid-day Tuesday.
At least two refineries -- Valero's and Marathon's -- were reported to be in restart mode as of Tuesday afternoon, but it was unclear when all three would be running at full speeds.
Such uncertainty prompted Enterprise to declare the force majeure, according to sources.
Official confirmation from Enterprise was not immediately available. The Texas City refinery area is a key supplier of refinery-grade propylene to Enterprise's Mont Belvieu, Texas, propylene splitter complex.
Enterprise's declaration could provide further upward pressure to already record-high spot and contract propylene values, as RGP has been in very short supply.
The propylene spot market was reported mum in reaction to the news, with one participant reporting RGP being transacted at 90.75 cents/lb MtB pipe, up .25 from Tuesday's assessment by Platts.
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