LONDON: Diesel refining margins in northwest Europe dropped below $8 a barrel on Thursday after a rise in ARA stocks that increased pressure on prices in the Atlantic basin.
ARA gasoil stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, rose slightly to 3.272 million tonnes in the week to Thursday due to higher imports and weak demand in inland markets, Dutch consultancy PJK International said.
That came a day after the Energy Information Administration reported a 1.2 million barrel increase in US distillate inventories last week.
Lower outright oil prices have nevertheless attracted some buying interest from large end-users in France and Germany, traders said.
Several large cargoes heading to the region were being offered.
Nevertheless, traders said that September will likely see a recovery in diesel prices as refineries enter seasonal maintenance and imports into Europe slow.
S&P Global Platts, a provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, has signed an agreement to acquire global energy market analysis firm PIRA Energy Group, it said in a statement Thursday.
GASOIL
One barge of 0.1 percent sulphur content gasoil traded at a discount of $4 a tonne fob ARA to the August Low Sulphur Gasoil futures.
One barge of 50ppm sulphur gasoil traded at a discount of $4 a tonne fob ARA to the August diesel futures.
August Low Sulphur Gasoil futures were trading $4.50 a tonne higher at $368 a tonne at 1540 GMT.
The August contract traded in a contango of $6.25 a tonne to the September contract, 50 cents narrower than a day earlier.
The diesel refining margin was at around $7.83 a barrel, down from $8.15 a barrel.
DIESEL
Twenty one barges of 10 ppm diesel traded at discounts of 75 cents to $1.50 a tonne fob ARA to August diesel futures, compared with discounts of $2 to $3 a tonne on Wednesday.
No cargoes traded.
JET FUEL
No barges traded. There were no bids or offers.
Shell sold to Total three cargoes.
FUEL OIL
Barges with a sulphur content of 3.5 percent fuel oil traded at $205-$205.75 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $199-$201 a tonne a day earlier.
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