LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe edged higher again on Tuesday, despite a planned restart on some units at Shell's Pernis refinery, as buying interest in the United States and West Africa lured cargoes out of the region.
Import demand in the United States was increasing, traders said, leading to a string of new bookings out of Europe.
Colonial Pipeline Co, the largest US refined products system, said on Tuesday it would go back to rationing space on its main gasoline line as demand to transport fuel recovered on stronger prices in the populous Northeast.
Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it was restarting a number of units at the 404,000 barrels per day Pernis, Netherlands, refinery after shutting down most of the site on July 30.
"Complete restart will take place in a structured and controlled way," the oil major said in an emailed statement, without identifying which units were resuming operations.
Shell shut the units following a power outage due to a fire in the power supply system on July 29.
Demand for cargoes in Nigeria was also strong as resurgent crude oil exports allowed those holding direct sale direct purchase (DSDP) contracts to bring in more gasoline.
Despite a growing excess of gasoline in Nigeria, sources expected the imports to continue as the country's crude exports remain elevated. GASOLINE
No barges of Eurobob gasoline traded during the afternoon session. Bids came in at $544 a tonne fob ARA, compared with trades on Monday at $540 a tonne.
Elsewhere during the day, some 24,000 tonnes traded between $549-$552 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with trades at $542-$548 a tonne fob on Monday. Gunvor and Total sold BP, Shell and Varo.
Barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded $550 a tonne fob ARA, compared with an offer at $551 a tonne on Monday. Gunvor, Varo and Shell sold to Total.
The September swap stood at $542 a tonne, up from $540 a tonne.
The benchmark ebob gasoline refining margin stood at $13.18 a barrel, up from $12.90 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were flat at $52.37 a barrel at 1543 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were 0.13 percent lower at $1.6278 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude stood at $18.98 a barrel, 10 cents lower from the previous afternoon.
NAPHTHA
There were no naphtha cargo trades. BP, Litasco, SK, Vilma and Glencore bid between $456-$457 a tonne cif NWE, while Vitol offered at $457-$458 a tonne cif NWE. That compared with trades at $455-$456.5 a tonne on Monday.
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