Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe were weaker on Tuesday amid limited buying interest. Buying activity in the region remained limited as most Asian markets were cloosed for the Chinese New Year Most demand continued to come from West Africa, where Nigeria's national oil company has extended its fuel buying into February, traders said.
The Paris-based IEA raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2018 to 1.4 million barrels per day, from a previous projection of 1.3 million bpd, after the International Monetary Fund upped its estimate of global economic growth for this year and next. Total continued to buy large volumes of premium unleaded in the afternoon trading window.
Few cargoes have been booked on the transatlantic route as demand in the US East Coast remains weak due to rising supplies in recent weeks. India's fuel demand rose 10.3 percent in January compared with the same month last year. No barges of eurobob gasoline traded in the afternoon window. Earlier in the day, some 6 barges traded at $589 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $600-$607 a tonne on Monday.
Total bought 14 barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $590-$593 a tonne fob ARA, down from $603-$607 a tonne in the previous session. Statoil and Varo sold. The March swap stood at $581 a tonne at the close, down from $592 a tonne. The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin stood at $8.36 a barrel, down from $9.4 a barrel. Brent crude futures were down 22 cents at $62.37 a barrel by 1622 GMT.
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