NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 12:45 EST — Regular session
- PBF Energy shares led U.S. refiners higher in midday trade.
- Traders are watching Venezuela-related headlines for what they could mean for heavy crude supplies.
- West Coast jet fuel prices remain elevated as outages tighten regional supply.
PBF Energy Inc shares jumped about 10% on Thursday, outpacing a firmer refining group. The stock was up $2.82 at $31.06 in midday trading after ranging from $28.60 to $31.18.
The move lands as refiners get pulled into a fast-changing story around Venezuela and crude flows, with knock-on effects for fuel prices and margins — the spread between what refiners pay for crude and what they sell as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Oil was higher on the day as investors tracked developments tied to Venezuela. 1
A resumption of Venezuelan exports could lower feedstock costs for U.S. refiners that can run heavy crude, analysts and trading sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Barclays analyst Theresa Chen called Gulf Coast plants “structurally advantaged to receive Venezuelan barrels,” while refining software founder Rommel Oates said “the Gulf Coast can absorb a substantial portion” of about 1 million barrels per day if sanctions are lifted. 2
On the products side, the paper market for Los Angeles jet fuel is nearly $40 a barrel above the Asian benchmark, LSEG data showed, the widest spread in almost two years. “The Asia-US West Coast jet fuel price spread has widened … mainly because of an extended outage at PBF Energy’s refinery in Martinez, California,” Vortexa analyst Ivan Mathews said. 3
PBF has been rebuilding the 157,000-barrel-per-day Martinez refinery since a Feb. 1, 2025 fire. In a Jan. 2 filing, Chief Executive Matt Lucey said the company was “committed to the safe restoration of full operations,” and it expects planned operating rates by early March; it also forecast 2026 throughput — crude it expects to run through its plants — of 885,000 to 945,000 barrels per day. 4
Oil prices rose about 2% as investors weighed Venezuela and other supply risks, with Brent around $61 a barrel and U.S. crude near $57 at mid-morning in New York, Reuters reported. 5
But the Venezuela trade is still a political call, and analysts have warned it could take years to meaningfully lift Venezuelan output. For PBF, any slip in the Martinez ramp or a drop in West Coast fuel prices could quickly change the earnings setup investors are leaning on.
