U.S. Cash Products-Midwest gasoline, diesel up on refinery fires, outages

* New York Harbor reaction to Philadelphia refinery fire muted

* Gulf gasoline up on refinery maintenance

HOUSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Midwest cash gasoline differentials rose on

Monday on fires and unit shutdowns at two refineries and outages at the largest

in the region, traders said.

Another fire that prompted unit closures at the largest refinery on the East

Coast also helped boost New York Harbor gasoline differentials, but reaction was

muted in light of a 4.7 million-barrel build in regional stocks as of Jan. 2,

traders said.

An explosion and fire on Saturday at Husky Energy Inc (Toronto: HSE.TO - news) 's 155,000

barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in Lima, Ohio, involved an isocracker unit that

was being restarted after planned work and also damaged a nearby ultraformer,

sources familiar with refinery operations said. No one was hurt.

The company said on Monday it expected to suspend production at the refinery

for about a week, and that the plant can operate without isocracker.

Group Three gasoline differentials climbed 3.00 cents per gallon to a

bid-offer spread of 15.50/14.50 cents under February RBOB on the New York

Mercantile Exchange, while Chicago gasoline rose 2.50 cents per gallon to

a 19.00-cent discount to futures, traders said.

A Saturday fire also prompted shutdowns of crude and vacuum distillation

units at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 212,000 bpd refinery in Robinson (LSE: RBN.L - news) ,

Illinois, but both were expected to restart by Tuesday.

BP Plc's 413,500 bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana - the largest in

the Midwest - also was restarting a crude unit and a reformer on

Monday.

ULSD differentials in both markets were slower to react, starting out flat

while showing gains later in the day, traders said. Chicago ULSD rose 2.00 cents

per gallon to 23.00/21.00 cents under February heating oil futures, while

Group Three ULSD climbed half a cent per gallon to an 18.00-cent discount to

futures.

Midwest distillate stocks rose 4.2 million barrels as of Jan. 2 with

refineries operating at nearly 95 percent capacity, according to the U.S. Energy

Information Administration. Midwest gasoline stocks gained 1.7 million

barrels the same week.

In the Harbor, gasoline differentials showed smaller gains after

Philadelphia Energy Solutions shut the 200,000 bpd the Girard Point section of

its 335,000 bpd refinery on Saturday after problems in a utility section

triggered small fires. The company expected the section to restart by Tuesday.

F5 RBOB gasoline differentials rose half a cent per gallon to a 2.75-cent

discount to February RBOB futures, while conventional M4 gasoline traded at a

2.00-cent premium to futures, up a penny per gallon from Friday's finish.

Differentials for Harbor distillates were largely flat on Monday. The EIA

said East Coast gasoline stocks gained 4.7 million barrels as of Jan 2, and

distillate inventories were up 2.9 million barrels.

On the U.S. Gulf Coast, gasoline differentials showed larger increases on

Monday, but traders attributed the boosts to ongoing refinery maintenance in the

region rather than anticipated demand in the Midwest, particularly with units at

the Whiting and Robinson refineries restarting. Planned work is under way at

Exxon Mobil Corp's 560,500 bpd refinery in Baytown, Texas, and Phillips

66's 247,000 bpd Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.

A4 CBOB, or conventional regular gasoline blendstock formulated for blending

with 10 percent ethanol, traded as high as 11.25 cents under February NYMEX RBOB

before retreating to a 12.00-cent discount, up 3.50 cents per gallon from

Friday's levels.

Conventional M4 gasoline in the Gulf rose to a bid-offer spread of 9.50/9.00

cents under futures, up 2.75 cents per galloon, traders said.

For more refinery news, please go to

Latest day

Timing NYMEX Bid Offer Change

Contract

U.S. GULF COAST * Scheduling

A4 CBOB gasoline Cycle 3 RBOB -12.25 -11.75 3.50

M4 conventional gasoline Cycle 3 RBOB -9.50 -9.00 2.75

62-grade ULSD Cycle 3 HO -18.00 -17.50 -1.00

54-grade jet fuel Cycle 3 HO -23.00 -22.00 0.50

Heating oil Cycle 2 HO -26.00 -22.00 0.00

NEW YORK HARBOR

M4 conventional gasoline Prompt RBOB 1.75 2.25 1.00

Any-Month RBOB 2.00 2.50 1.00

F5 RBOB Prompt RBOB -3.00 -2.50 0.50

Any-Month RBOB -2.75 -2.25 0.50

ULSD Prompt HO 2.00 2.50 0.00

Any-Month HO 1.75 2.25 0.00

Heating oil Prompt HO -4.00 -3.50 0.00

Any-Month HO -5.25 -4.75 -0.25

Jet fuel Prompt HO -4.00 -3.50 0.00

Any-Month HO -3.75 -3.25 0.50

MIDWEST

Chicago CBOB gasoline Cycle 2 RBOB -20.00 -18.00 2.50

Chicago ULSD Cycle 2 HO -23.00 -21.00 2.00

Group Three gasoline RBOB -15.50 -14.50 3.00

Group Three ULSD HO -18.50 -17.50 0.50

(Reporting by Kristen Hays in Houston; Editing by Peter Galloway)