East Coast refineries, like the one above owned by Philadelphia Energy Solutions, have been hurt… Philadelphia Energy Solutions, operator of the largest oil refinery on the Atlantic coast, felt confident enough about its prospects last year that it filed to raise $272 million through a public offering. But the company ditched those plans in September. It also let go dozens of workers, suspended pension contributions and delayed capital projects, according to a person familiar with the matter. A year can make a big difference, as can a 75% decrease in the spread between the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate and the European benchmark Brent. That crude-oil spread-—which reached as much as $28 a barrel-—had long nourished East Coast refiners and given American refiners a competitive advantage over imports from their trans-Atlantic rivals. But the discount has narrowed with the drop in output from U.S. shale producers, tightening this year […]