LONDON: Gasoline cracks rose on Wednesday on the back of a slide in oil prices and hopes of a greater demand for fuel after the US July 4 holiday.
Gunvor was a major buyer of gasoline barges in the Platts window while BP reversed course turning into significant seller using the Argus index, whereas in June it was a major buyer.
Production on the 81,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) gasoline-producing unit at Motiva Enterprises' 603,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was cut back on Wednesday due to an overnight hydrotreater malfunction, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Wednesday was restarting the gasoline-producing and alkylation units at its 227,586 bpd Convent, Louisiana, refinery after a Tuesday night malfunction, said sources familiar with plant operations.
GASOLINE
No barges of Eurobob gasoline traded in the afternoon trading window but a bid was made at $497 a tonne fob ARA.
Outside the window, some 13,000 tonnes of eurobob barges traded at $495-507 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $501-$506 a tonne on Monday.
Shell sold 12 barges to Gunvor of premium unleaded gasoline in the window at $504-$507 a tonne fob ARA, down from a deal of $520 a tonne on Tuesday.
The July swap stood at $495.50 a tonne at the close, down from $507 a tonne on Tuesday.
Brent crude futures were down $1.62 a barrel at $47.99 a barrel at 1552 GMT.
The benchmark ebob gasoline refining margin was at $11.91 a barrel, up from $11.14 a barrel.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were down 1.95 percent at $1.5048 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude stood at $17.89 a barrel, up from $17.39 a barrel at the previous close.
NAPHTHA
No cargo trades were reported.
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