LONDON: Diesel refining margins in northwest Europe were largely steady on Monday amid signs that supply cuts due to seasonal refinery maintenance were helping to balance the market.
German consumer heating oil stocks at the start of March rose to 58 percent of tank capacity, up from 57 percent in February, a trade source said on Monday.
The amount is six percentage points above the five-year average of 52 percent for early March.
Refinery turnarounds, which peak in Europe in March, were helping remove some of the heavy oversupply seen in recent months.
March arrivals from Asia and the Middle East were expected to fall to just over 1 million tonnes, down from close to 2.5 million in February.
Tunisian refiner STIR issued a tender to buy up to 200,000 tonnes of jet fuel over a one-year period beginning in June, according to the tender document seen by Reuters on Monday.
Turkish refiner Tupras issued a tender to import a ULSD and/or 0.25 percent sulphur straight-run high-sulphur gasoil for delivery March 15-30 to Izmit or Izmir.
Offers were due by 17:00 GMT on March 15.
Spain's Petronor has taken offline a vacuum distillation unit at its 220,000 barrels-per-day Bilbao refinery for maintenance lasting until March 26, it said on Monday.
GASOIL
Vitol sold to BP one barge with a sulphur content of 0.1 percent at a $1 a tonne discount to April gasoil.
No cargoes traded.
No 50 ppm sulphur gasoil barges traded.
April Low Sulphur Gasoil futures were down $11.75 a tonne at $355.25 by 1649 GMT.
The April and May contracts were trading in a contango of $3.75 a tonne, compared with $3.50 on Friday.
Diesel refining margins stood at $9.10 a barrel, down from $9.29 on Friday.
DIESEL
Twelve diesel barges traded at discounts of $6 to $7 a tonne versus April diesel futures, compared with $5.50-$7 on Friday.
In the Mediterranean, Vitol sold one cargo to Glencore at a $6 a tonne cif Mediterranean discount to spot prices.
JET FUEL No barges traded.
Vitol sold three cargoes to Shell with a portion of the trades priced at $15-$17 a tonne premiums to April gasoil.
FUEL OIL
Barges with a sulphur content of 3.5 percent traded at $150.25 to $153.75 a tonne fob ARA, down from $158.50-$162 on Friday.
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