LONDON: Gasoline margins in northwest Europe eased on Friday, but stayed close to a three week high, supported by labour disruptions in France which have shut most of the country's refineries, slashing exports of the motor fuel.
Total said only its 153,000 barrels-per-day La Mede refinery was running and at reduced capacity, all four other plants have been forced to shut down as a result of the strikes.
Workers from the CGT union voted on Friday to extend their strike until June 3 at the Grandpuits refinery and until May 30 at the Feyzin refinery.
Workers also voted for an open-ended strike at the Donges refinery
The refinery disruptions have so far slashed France's gasoline production by over 300,000 tonnes, with exports of the motor fuel down by 100,000 tonnes, according to trader estimates.
The strikes are helping to bring some balance to an otherwise oversupplied market, amid weak demand.
Gasoline stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub rose 9 percent in the week to Thursday, according to Dutch consultancy PJK International.
GASOLINE
There were no trades during the Platts afternoon trading window. Bid and offer discussions emerged at $520 to $526 a tonne, compared with trade on Thursday at $525.
About 16,000 tonnes of eurobob barges traded throughout the day at $519-$520 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $521-$533 a tonne a day earlier. Gunvor sold to Shell and Rolympus.
Koch and Varo sold to Total 3 barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $535 a tonne fob ARA, down from $539 a tonne the day before.
The June swap stood at $526.50 a tonne at the close, down from $530 a tonne the day before.
Gasoline barge refining margins fell to $12.86 a barrel from $13.29 on Thursday.
Brent crude oil futures were down 33 cents at $49.26 a barrel at 1548 GMT.
US June RBOB gasoline was up 0.25 percent at $1.6235 a gallon.
The US gasoline crack traded at $18.85 a barrel, down from $19.76 a barrel.
NAPHTHA
There were no naphtha trades.
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