LONDON: Northwest European gasoline refining margins slipped again on Tuesday despite good export demand to the Middle East and Asia.
Heavy refinery maintenance in the Middle East, with several units undergoing work and as many as three key refineries expected to shut down early next year, has led to a stream of European exports in recent weeks.
Exports to the United States were muted as a seasonal drop in demand began to set in across the country, reducing the impact of a fire at a large refinery.
A fire broke out in the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at ExxonMobil Corp's 362,300 barrel per day (bpd) Beaumont refinery in Texas on Tuesday morning, sources said.
Traders said there were also concerns that maintenance at the 404,000 bpd Shell Pernis refinery in the Netherlands could last longer than planned. Shell did not immediately comment on the status of what is Europe's largest oil refinery.
Two Russian refiners are avoiding export duty on fuel oil and vacuum gasoil by renaming them as an oil product that is exempt from the charge, according to four industry sources and Reuters analysis of customs and refining data. GASOLINE
No barges of eurobob gasoline traded in the afternoon window. There were no bids or offers.
Some 6,000 tonnes traded elsewhere at $601.50-$605 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with trades at $607-$612 on Monday. Litasco sold to Gunvor and Vitol.
No barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded. Offers emerged at $620 a tonne fob ARA, compared with an offer at $623 on Monday.
The December swap stood at $600 a tonne at the close, down from $602.50.
The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin fell to $8.21 a barrel from $8.46 a barrel.
Brent crude futures fell by 17 cents to $63.67 a barrel by 1726 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.8 percent at $1.7742 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude was down 2.5 percent at $16.44 a barrel.
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