Citgo Petroleum said Wednesday it will deliver gasoline from its 197,917 b/d Lemont, Ill., refinery to New York using Buckeye Partners' Laurel Pipeline, marking the first time Midwest-produced transportation fuel is shipped to East Coast markets.

On Sept. 1, Buckeye said it would immediately begin Laurel Pipeline's bi-directional service allowing west-to-east refined product movement from origin points in Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania to markets in New York and eastern Pennsylvania.

"By connecting Midwest refining capability with East Coast demand, the new service will provide an additional pathway for Citgo transportation fuels to reach key markets," Citgo said.

Karl Schmidt, Citgo's vice president of supply and marketing, said in a statement that the new pipeline service provides an option to the company's supply system, allowing Citgo to move fuel to meet customers' demand.

The new pipeline service, allowing relatively cheaper Midwest refined products to reach the densely populated Northeast markets, comes at a time when Middle East supply disruptions have most likely reduced gasoline exports from Europe and Eastern Canada to the U.S. East Coast.

Buckeye has offered up to 80,000 b/d of incremental capacity from the Midwest and western Pennsylvania to markets in eastern Pennsylvania and Upstate New York as well as New York Harbor. The company said it has received strong interest for its service.

The Northeast region currently has only five oil refineries, located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A devastating 2019 fire permanently shut the 335,000 b/d Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in southern Pennsylvania, historically the largest East Coast refinery.

As Northeast refining capacity decreases, Laurel Pipeline's new bi-directional service allows refined products to reverse its traditional flow from east to west.