LONDON: Northwest European gasoline refining margins rose by nearly $1 a barrel on Friday after a fire at a major US East Coast refinery boosted prices in the Atlantic basin.
US gasoline futures shot up nearly 4pc after a massive fire broke out at the 335,000-barrels-per-day Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
A major explosion occurred at an alkylation unit in the refinery, a source familiar with plant operations said.
The gains in US prices opened the arbitrage from Europe and exports on the route were expected to rise as a result, traders said.
Gasoline stocks in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped by around 5pc in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
US gasoline stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 935,000-barrel gain, Energy Information Administration data showed.
Naphtha exports from Europe and the Mediterranean to Asia were expected to reach 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes in June, around a quarter lower than the previous month, according to Refinitiv Oil Research.
Total naphtha flows into Asia are set to reach as much as 5.2 million tonnes in June, down by 400,000 tonnes from May, the data showed.
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