US Cash Products-USG diesel up amid dearth of sellers

NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - ULSD diesel in the U.S. Gulf Coast rose two cents against a firmer futures benchmark Monday, as few sellers were matched with motivated buyers looking to cover ahead of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

In the New York Harbor, ultra low sulfur diesel price differentials also firmed, up about a penny from Friday levels.

But overall trade in the Harbor was thin and most cash oil products were seen reacting little to Friday's news that Valero has begun permanently mothballing its Delaware City refinery as the weak economy batters the refining sector. [ID:nN20224848]

"Well their (Valero's) line is that they will make up most of the shortfall from their other refineries and given the glut of distillates here in the U.S. and around the world the news has had little effect so far," said a New York Harbor trader.

In other refinery news, Valero said on Monday it restarted the second of three coker modules that underwent maintenance at its 325,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. [ID:nN23255432]

Husky Energy was in the process of restarting its 160,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lima, Ohio, a company spokesman said Monday. [ID:nN23214122]

Late Friday, BP reported an ultracracker malfunction at its 475,000-bpd Texas City, Texas, refinery [ID:nN20246025] Citgo said it was restarting the gasoline-making FCC unit at its 156,000-bpd Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery after a power blip Thursday. [ID:nN2053745]

Also on Friday, Valero said flaring due to the shutdown of a hydrodesulfurization unit at its 340,000 bpd Corpus Christi refinery due to bad weather conditions did not impact production. [ID:nN20241239]

In NYMEX dealings, U.S. crude oil futures rose sharply on the back of a weak dollar, expectations for better economic growth and tensions surrounding Iran's air defense war games on Sunday. Gasoline and heating oil futures also firmed. [O/N]