LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe rose sharply on Monday as exports picked up, particularly to the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Over 600,000 tonnes of gasoline and blending components were provisionally booked last week to load in northwest Europe and the Mediterranean to go to the Middle East and Asia Pacific, according to shipping reports.
Buying from the Middle East has been firm in recent weeks due to a busy refinery maintenance programme in the region.
US buyers were again appearing in the market after a lull in export activity from Europe as supplies in the New York Harbour have been tight.
Struggling commodities trader Noble Group agreed to sell its Americas-focused oil trading business to Vitol for about $580 million as part of a debt-cutting strategy, and warned of a big loss for its third quarter.
China's gasoline exports in September fell to their lowest monthly level in almost two years, with diesel shipments dropping to the lowest since January, as domestic demand picked up ahead of winter and refiners ran out of quotas.
GASOLINE
No eurobob gasoline barge trades emerged in the afternoon trading window. Bids emerged at up to $559 a tonne fob ARA, compared with trades at $556 a tonne on Friday.
Earlier in the day, 6,000 tonnes traded at $561-$563 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up from $549-$553 a tonne the previous session. Total and Shell sold to BP.
No barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded. Bids and offers were seen at a range of $563-$565 a tonne fob ARA.
The November swap stood at $555 a tonne at the close, up from $553.50 a tonne.
The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin rose to $9.06 a barrel from $7.42 a barrel on Friday.
Brent crude futures were down 28 cents at $57.47 a barrel at 1546 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.05 percent at $1.6772 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude was 1.22 percent lower at $16.98 a barrel.
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