US Cash Products-NYH gasoline, distillates up

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Oil products were mixed on Friday in sparse trade ahead of the weekend in markets east of the Rockies, with gasoline and distillates firmer in the New York Harbor amid a raft of fresh refinery news, traders said.

Trade sources said on Friday that Sunoco Inc (SUN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shut a crude unit at the Girard Point section of its 335,000 barrel per day Philadelphia oil refinery due to a snag. [ID:nN16420036]

Meanwhile, Hovensa LLC, a key supplier to East Coast markets, has restarted a crude distillation unit at its 500,000-bpd refinery in St. Croix after unplanned maintenance, a spokesman said Friday. [ID:nN16414909]

BP's (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) alkylation unit at its 417,000 bpd Texas City refinery is expected to come back online by the beginning of next week, along with a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracker, a source familiar with refinery operations said Friday. [ID:nN16405322]

For refinery outages, click [REF/US]

Ultra-low sulfur diesel was holding Thursday's gains in the U.S. Gulf Coast and the New York Harbor as export demand to Europe was said to have picked up again with prices rising on the continent on fears of tighter supplies, traders said.

U.S. crude oil futures climbed to a record near $128 a barrel, spurred by Goldman Sachs sharply raising its second-half 2008 price forecast and continued worries over tight supply, particularly for distillates. [O/N] [O/R]

U.S. GULF COAST <0#P-USG>

Regular M2 gasoline, newly prompt for cycle 30 on the Colonial Pipeline traded at 11 cents under the June RBOB board, a quarter cent off from Thursday.