LONDON: Gasoline barge prices in northwest Europe held steady on Wednesday and the naphtha crack firmed but there was very little activity in the market as industry event IP Week continued. US gasoline stocks rose by two million barrels week-on-week, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration, exceeding analysts' expectations for a 200,000 barrel climb.
The build came despite a 3.5 percent year-on-year increase in gasoline demand over the last four weeks, as consumers took advantage of lower prices.
Shipping fixtures showed a steady stream of gasoline cargoes being fixed to the United States, Mexico and Brazil from Britain and the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, departing mid-February.
A strike at 11 refineries is continuing in the United States, including at nine plants that account for 13 percent of US refining capacity.
About 5,400 workers are now taking industrial action in the first big refinery strike since 1980. However, companies have called on managers to keep their plants running at nearly normal levels and there has been little impact on production to date.
In Europe, Germany's 310,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Karlsruhe refinery will begin maintenance on several units this week and will fully shut down for six weeks starting on Feb. 25.
GASOLINE
No barges of benchmark Eurobob gasoline traded. Bids came at $534 a tonne fob ARA, down from $543 a tonne on Tuesday.
No barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded.
At 1640 GMT, Brent crude oil futures were down $1.42 at $55.01 a barrel.
Eurobob's crack to dated Brent was at about $9.73 a barrel, down slightly from $9.77 a barrel on Tuesday.
US RBOB gasoline futures for March were down 0.4 percent at $1.5461 a gallon.
The prompt crack was at $15.73 a barrel, up from $14.35 a barrel on Tuesday.
NAPHTHA
Glencore sold a cargo to SK Energy at $483 a tonne cif NWE for Feb. 26-March 2.
The prompt naphtha crack was at about minus 66 cents a barrel, firming from Tuesday.
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