US Cash Products-USG gasoline up on refinery problems

NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline edged up in relatively active trade on Friday ahead of the weekend buying amid news of a number of regional refinery glitches, traders said.

"Gas is moving up," said one Gulf Coast broker.

ConocoPhillips will try to restart the fluid catalytic cracker at its 247,000 barrel-per-day Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, next week, after problems in start-up after planned work, trade sources said. [ID:nN27340132]

Citgo has cut rates to process units at the west plant of its 156,000 bpd Corpus Christi, Texas refinery due to a snag. It was not clear how long rate cuts at the refinery's west plant, first reported earlier this week due to a sulfur recovery unit problem, would last. [ID:nN27340877]

Exxon said production was not affected by the mid-week shutting of an FCC boiler at its 348,500 bpd Beaumont, Texas, refinery. [ID:nN27339671]

U.S. crude oil futures fell as economic concerns pressured the oil complex after crude and products surged on Thursday.

NYMEX March refined products expire on Friday, after Thursday saw front-month RBOB gasoline futures at a premium to heating oil futures for the first time since August 2007.

"It's just giving back some of yesterday's bigger up move," a trader said of the energy futures market's swoon.

For a complete list of refinery outages, click [REF/US]