HOW REFINERY FUEL INDEXES HAVE FALLEN

Gerald L. Farrar Contributing Editor Costs for several selected fuels consumed in refinery operation have fallen significantly over the last 5 years, as shown in the table. Of the six individual items which contribute to overall refinery fuel price, Gulf cargoes residual fuel fell the most, from 1339.3 during the first quarter of 1984, to 508.4 during the fourth quarter of 1988. Over this same time span, Oklahoma northern shipments index dropped from 1440.9 to 610.3.

April 2, 1990

Gerald L. Farrar
Contributing Editor

Costs for several selected fuels consumed in refinery operation have fallen significantly over the last 5 years, as shown in the table.

Of the six individual items which contribute to overall refinery fuel price, Gulf cargoes residual fuel fell the most, from 1339.3 during the first quarter of 1984, to 508.4 during the fourth quarter of 1988. Over this same time span, Oklahoma northern shipments index dropped from 1440.9 to 610.3.

Chicago cargoes fuel oil fell from 1229.3 at the beginning of 1984 to 402.3 at the end of 1988. Over the same period, New York barges resid dropped from 1184.4 to 518.8. San Pedro bunkers fuel oil started the period at 1224.1 and ended at 474.1.

The price index for natural gas at the wellhead was 2223.6 during the first quarter of 1984. The price index had dropped to 1616.5 by the fourth quarter of 1988.

Overall refinery fuel price index dropped from 946.9 at the start of the period to 411.7 at the end of the period. Most of this drop is attributable to drops in the price of crude over the 5 year span.