By Mia Shanley
SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline's latest price rally may just be enough to pry open the door for Asian barrels to head across the Pacific and fill any supply gap, but traders said there was little excess product in the region to export.
U.S. unleaded gasoline futures struck an all-time high on Wednesday after an explosion and fire at the third-largest refinery in the United States revived fears of a supply crunch in the peak demand summer months.
BP , which owns the 447,000 barrel-a-day plant in Texas, confirmed the blaze at a gasoline producing unit but gave no details of damage or time estimate for repairs. "The fire at the refinery will boost the market but it all depends on how long the refinery will be closed," said a trader at a South Korean refiner.
A spokesman for the British oil company said in London on Wednesday that the fire had been doused.
South Korea and Taiwan refiners are Asia's usual exporters of gasoline to the United States when the economics are workable.
April unleaded gasoline futures on the on the New York Mercantile Exchange shot to a peak at $1.1775 a gallon, or the equivalent of $49.45 a barrel, beating a May 2001 record at $1.1750 on news of the BP blast.
In Asia's benchmark Singapore spot market, 95-octane gasoline was quoted at $45.20 a barrel ($1.076 per gallon) on Wednesday, up from $44.50 late on Tuesday.
Traders usually consider the arbitrage to move barrels from Asia to the United States for blending only viable when the price difference between U.S. futures and Singapore spot free-on-board prices is at least $3 a barrel, sources said.
"Gasoline is strong in Asia and many people are hesitating to say whether or not the arbitrage is open. It is still quite uncertain," a trader said.
Shipbrokers quoted clean freight to the U.S. West Coast at about $3.50 a barrel and freight to the U.S. Gulf Coast at about $4.50 a barrel.
The BP plant outage comes at a time when U.S. refiners are struggling to replenish gasoline stocks ahead of peak demand season during summer vacations. U.S. gasoline inventories are already running below normal levels.
TIGHT ASIA SUPPLY
Gasoline prices in Asia have been on an upward path since late February as demand has grown across the region with fast-paced car sales to match solid economic growth.
On the supply side, maintenance at three of China's largest refiners has choked supply from the exporter, which on average sells about 600,000 tonnes a month into the region.
"China's export availabilities are down about 30 percent compared to last year because of maintenance," the Korean trader said.
Indonesia ramped up buying for April, taking about 2.3 million barrels of gasoline for the month compared with a more usual 1.6 million barrels, as it increased stocks ahead of elections later this year, which suppliers fear may trigger periods of social unrest.
Philippine state-oil refiner Petron took two cargoes of gasoline for delivery in both April and May, double its usual monthly intake ahead of May maintenance, while unseasonally strong demand from Australia and New Zealand due to local refinery turnarounds has also drawn barrels from the market.
Japan's biggest refiner, Nippon Oil Corp , also has been scouting the market for spot barrels after it shut a 30,000 barrel-a-day reformer in mid-March due to an unidentified problem. The reformer may stay shut until mid-April.