Investing.com - Shares of many oil refineries were rallying on Monday after Hurricane Harvey forced many refineries near the storm's path to shutdown.
According to CNN, some ten refineries closed, while CNBC noted that the closures could remove more than 1 million barrels per day in refining capacity just in the Houston and Galveston, Texas, areas.
Some of the closures include: Royal Dutch Shell's (LON:RDSa) PLC ADR (NYSE:RDSa) Deer Park refinery in Houston, with a crude oil capacity of 340,000 barrels per day, Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras' SA ADR (NYSE:PBR) facility in Pasadena, Texas, with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day, and Exxon Mobil Corporation's (NYSE:XOM) plant in Baytown, Texas, with a capacity of more than 560,000 barrels per day.
Even if the refineries escape major damages, infrastructure damages and flooding could make it impossible for workers to make it to the facilities, leaving them idle for days, or maybe even weeks.
Some of the companies whose shares are climbing on the news include HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC), PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF), and Andeavor (NYSE:ANDV). Shell, Petrobras and Exxon's shares are lower - as are other oil producers and service companies due to weak oil prices.
Although oil prices were lower on Monday, gasoline futures surged, and this was boosting the refiners. It is likely that a mini gasoline price spike will continue and that will be positive for refiners. An important mention; however, is that the end of Labor Day weekend marks the start of the lower-demand period for gasoline, and soon that may pull gasoline prices lower.