Phillips 66 shuts key crude unit at Illinois refinery after power outage

By Jarrett Renshaw

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) -- A power outage that shut down a crude unit at Phillips 66's 306,000-bpd refinery in Wood River, Illinois, triggered a spike in Midwest cash gasoline prices on Wednesday, traders said.

Phillips 66 shut down a 64,000-bpd crude unit and an associated vacuum distillation unit and coker at the Illinois refinery on Tuesday after heavy storms knocked out power to the western portion of the plant, a source familiar with the plant's operations said.

Chicago cash gasoline differentials rose 2.75 cents/gal on Wednesday on news of the power outage, traders said.

It is still unclear when the units will be restarted, the source said.

The National Weather Service reported heavy thunderstorms, hail and high winds in the region on Tuesday.

The western section of the plant had been shut recently due to weather-related power issues, and the outage lasted a few days.

The shutdown of the units was first reported on Wednesday morning by energy industry intelligence service Genscape.

The company declined to comment on the shutdown of the units, saying it was standard policy not to discuss plant operations.