LONDON: The gasoline refining margin edged higher but remained under pressure by firming crude prices and cheap naphtha in an illiquid market due to Labour Day in the United States.
Winter gasoline blending has started, which entails a higher of content of cheap naphtha coming out of high stocks that dragging down the value of gasoline overall.
Gasoline demand is expected to subside further after US Labour day.
Saudi Aramco fixed at least three cargoes of Mediterranean gasoline into the Mid-East Gulf.
A Sonatrach official told Reuters there was no maintenance shutdown scheduled for the crude distillation unit at the 335,000 bpd Skikda refinery in 2016.
Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on Monday to cooperate in oil markets, saying they will not act immediately but could limit output in future, sending oil prices higher on hopes the two top producers would work together to tackle a global glut.
GASOLINE
No benchmark Eurobob gasoline traded during the afternoon trading session.
Some 16,000 tonnes traded throughout the day at $455-$474 a tonne fob ARA, up from $444-$454 a during the previous session.
A barge of premium unleaded gasoline traded at $477 a tonne fob ARA, up from $465 a tonne fob ARA the previous day.
The September swap stood at around $440 a tonne at the close, up from $436.50 a tonne on Friday. * Gasoline barge refining margins were up slightly at $7.67 a barrel from $7.28 a barrel on Friday.
Brent crude oil futures were up 64 cents at $47.47 a barrel by 1555 GMT.
US August RBOB gasoline futures were up 0.76 percent at 1.3115 a gallon.
The US gasoline crack was trading at $9.92 a barrel, down from $10.10 a barrel, down from $10.23 a barrel on Friday.
NAPHTHA
BP sold a cargo to Gunvor at $381 a tonne cif Northwest Europe for Sept. 15-19 delivery.
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