Gasoline refining margins edged down despite a large draw in U.S inventories last week. US gasoline stocks fell last week by 3.5 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million barrels drop, the EIA said in its weekly report.
The transatlantic gasoline export route has seen little activity in recent days, but the draws could spark some new buying interest, traders said. The ARA barge market remained busy due to strong demand for gasoline and blending component in inland markets, traders said. Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA plans to shut an oil upgrader in April for major maintenance work, leading to a sharp increase in naphtha imports to 83,000 bpd in April from 64,500 bpd in March, according to the document, which does not specify the duration of the shutdown.
Venezuela imports naphtha mainly from the US and uses it to dilute its crude grades to make them exportable. No barges of eurobob gasoline traded. A bid surfaced at $672 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $660 a tonne on Monday. Elsewhere, Total sold 14 barges of winter-grade eurobob to Shell and BP at $600 a tonne fob ARA, down from $604 a tonne on Tuesday.
Four barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded at $698 a tonne fob ARA. The April swap stood at $669 a tonne at the close, up from $665.50 a tonne. The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin declined to $2.59 a barrel from $3.742 a barrel.
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