LONDON: Northwest European gasoline crack swaps gained ground in the week to Monday as a switch to summer grade underpinned demand along with a boost in exports to West Africa and the United States.
Crude oil prices retreated from 2016 highs to below $40 a barrel as hope faded for a production freeze that involved all OPEC member nations.
A notably high amount of gasoline and blending components for summer specification fuel have been booked to sail to Asia for loading in March, but stocks have also been quietly building.
US gasoline stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration, the largest weekly drop since April of 2014.
Benchmark diesel margins were mostly stable over the course of the week.
Gasoil stocks held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub rose by 5 percent in the week to March 10 as traders discharged some volumes that had been held in floating storage, according to Dutch consultancy PJK International.
German consumer heating oil stocks at the start of March rose to 58 percent of tank capacity, up from 57 percent in February, according to data from a trade source and six percentage points above the five-year average for March.
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