LONDON: Northwest European gasoline refining margins eased on Wednesday but a larger than expected drop in US weekly inventories capped losses.
US gasoline stocks fell by 2.1 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million barrel drop, according to Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday.
Transatlantic arbitrage economics from Europe were already strong due to steady decline in US stocks of the motor fuel.
The gasoline-naphtha spread in northwest Europe widened sharply in recent days due to weaker demand from petrochemical plants in the region as they enter seasonal maintenance, traders said.
Algerian state energy company Sonatrach has decided not to extend its crude-for-oil products deal with trading house Vitol that ends this month, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The move comes as Sonatrach's 175,000 barrel per day (bpd) Italian oil refinery, which it acquired from US major Exxon Mobil last year, returns from maintenance, sources said.
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