New York (Platts)--8Nov2012/1057 pm EST/357 GMT
A jump in product moving on Colonial Pipeline to the storm-hit US Northeast was expected as barges dealt with missed tides and new fuel waivers were rolled out on Thursday. Oil traders said extra product should be sent up Colonial following the company's decision to make more space available on its North Carolina-New Jersey Line 3. Colonial on Wednesday announced it had postponed planned maintenance on Line 3, which allowed it to lift allocations for shipping cycle 62 on the line. Shipper nominations previously had been allocated due to the planned work. The 825,000 b/d Line 3 originates at Greensboro, North Carolina, and delivers about 700,000 b/d to Linden, New Jersey, in New York Harbor and 125,000 b/d at intermediate points. Line 3 links up with Colonial's 1.272 million b/d gasoline Line 1 and 1.15 million b/d distillates Line 2 in Greensboro. Lines 1 and 2 originate from Pasadena, Texas. "It's allowing us to move more product from Greensboro to Linden," one trader said. "We got our space back on (cycle 62) on Line 3. We have 250,000 barrels [of conventional gasoline] getting in on Line 3 (cycle 62)." However, other traders said any additional movements would be limited to shippers in Greensboro. "Colonial lifting allocation for Line 3 won't impact Gulf Coast gasoline much. The line from [Pasadena, Texas,] is completely full," one trader said. A Colonial Pipeline spokesman declined to comment on whether other shippers were taking advantage of the additional line space. Another trader said additional diesel fuel may be shipping on the line in addition to gasoline. Meanwhile, two more undisclosed companies notified US maritime authorities they plan to take advantage of a temporarily lifted shipping law to move fuel from the Gulf Coast to the storm-battered Northeast on foreign-flagged vessels. That brings to four the total number of companies planning to transport petroleum products and fuel additives to the region hit by Hurricane Sandy, according to the US Department of Transportation. Seven petroleum terminals in New York and New Jersey remain closed, according to the Department of Energy. New York Harbor product supplies were in "pretty good shape" Thursday, but product barges may have "missed a tide" due to the winter storm that hit Wednesday, according to an informal survey by the head of the New York Oil Heating Association. "I conducted a survey this morning," said John Maniscalco in a phone interview. "We are in pretty good shape. Not all terminals have all products, but let's say enough terminals have enough of each product line to get us by this week into the weekend." He said the storm that hit the New York region Wednesday caused some barges to miss needed tides to get products to terminals. The Hudson River is a tidal estuary, with tides that reverse during the day between flowing toward upstate New York or out to the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary usually has two high and two low tides in 24 hours. The City of New York on Thursday suspended sulfur limits to allow higher-sulfur fuels to be used as heating fuel through December 7. On the gasoline side, New York state announced gasoline rationing in New York City, Nassau County and Suffolk County, citing a temporary partial power outage at a terminal served by Buckeye Pipeline that caused some issues. In New Jersey, new fuel waivers announced Thursday included allowing the use of dyed diesel fuel on state roads until November 20 and an extension of an emergency waiver allowing unlicensed fuel merchants to buy fuel from out-of-state suppliers to November 14.--Staff reports, newsdesk@platts.com --Edited by John Kingston, john_kingston@platts.com; Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron_greenhalgh@platts.com