.jpg)
LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe slightly declined on Friday after sharp drops in crude oil and US gasoline futures.
At least two long-range tankers have been booked in recent days to ship reformate from Europe to Asia after several days of no activity due to weaker demand from China, traders said.
Tankers carrying around 1 million tonnes of gasoline have been booked from Europe to West Africa, according to Reuters shipping data, following renewed demand from Nigeria.
High volumes in land and floating storage weigh on outlook, however. Gasoline stocks held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp storage hub fell slightly in the week to Thursday to 1.14 million tonnes, according to Dutch consultancy PJK International.
Naphtha cracks have gained in recent days on stronger demand in Asia as pertochemical plants return from maintenance and high inventories clear, traders said.
GASOLINE
Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of eurobob gasoline at $440 a tonne fob ARA during the Platts afternoon window.
Some 12,000 tonnes of eurobob barges traded throughout the day at $448-$457 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, down from $455 a tonne on Thursday. Gunvor and Total sold, Mabanaft, Rolympus, Shell and BP bought.
Thirteen barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded at $464 and $466 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $476 a tonne. Glencore and Varo sold, Total bought 11 barges and Litasco bought two more.
The April swap stood at $457.50 a tonne, against $466 a tonne on Thursday.
Gasoline barge refining margins declined to $15.9 a barrel from around $16.4 a barrel a day earlier.
Brent crude oil futures were down $1.56 at $38.77 a barrel at 1541 GMT.
US April RBOB gasoline was down 2.27 percent at $1.4135 a gallon.
The US gasoline summer crack stood at $22.39 a barrel, down from $22.56 a barrel.
NAPHTHA
Shell sold to BASF a cargo at $357 a tonne cif NWE for loading April 19-23. That compared with Thursday's trade at $373 a tonne.
The naphtha crack stood at $1.34 a barrel according to Reuters calculations, down from $3.66 a barrel.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.