LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe rose on Thursday, supported by large stock draws in the ARA hub and the United States and ongoing strikes at French refineries.
Gasoline stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub fell by almost 22 percent in the week to Thursday due to exports and higher demand into France, according to Dutch consultancy PJK International.
US gasoline stocks dropped by 1.5 million barrels last week to 238.62 million barrels compared with forecasts of a 200,000 barrel draw, the US Energy Information Administration said.
US gasoline demand over the past week rose by 4 percent from a year ago to 9.66 million barrels per day.
Total said in a statement more than 1,000 trucks were being used to deliver around 400,000 barrels of fuel from depots, down from 1,100 on Wednesday but still nearly three times the normal number.
All of Total's 9 fuel depots in France are operating.
Total's La Mede refinery was operating at 80 percent of capacity, while its Normandie, Grandpuits, Donges and Feyzin remain shut, it said.
Demand in the region weakened in recent days, traders said.
GASOLINE Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of benchmark eurobob gasoline during the late afternoon window at $523 a tonne fob ARA, up from $517 a tonne on Wednesday.
About 4,000 tonnes of eurobob barges traded throughout the day at $521-$523 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up from $509-$514 a tonne. Cargill and Litasco sold to Shell.
Koch and Varo sold to Total five barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $531 a tonne fob ARA, up from $526 a tonne.
The June swap stood at $528 a tonne at the close, up from $523 a tonne the previous day.
Gasoline barge refining margins rose to $13.175 a barrel from $12.215 a barrel.
Brent crude oil futures were up 24 cents at $49.96 a barrel at 1548 GMT.
US July RBOB gasoline was up 1.06 percent at $1.6322 a gallon.
The US gasoline crack was trading at $19.42 a barrel, up from $18.70 a barrel.
NAPHTHA
Litasco sold to Koch a cargo at $423 a tonne cif NWE, up from Wednesday's trade of $416.50 a tonne.
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