LONDON: Northwest European gasoline barge refining margins fell to their lowest since late March on Tuesday, weighed down by heavy stockpiles and slack demand from Nigeria.
An arbitrage from the United States into Europe remained open, traders said, while demand for European exports from the West was limited by rising US stockpiles.
Demand from within Europe was also hampered by large stockpiles despite the approach of the summer driving season.
Demand from Nigeria has slowed substantially, traders said, as the country lacks the foreign exchange reserves to pay for fuel.
Weekly gasoline stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub rose by nearly 10 percent as exports from the region slowed, the latest data from Dutch Consultancy PJK International shows.
BP returned the small crude distillation unit to normal production at its 413,500 barrel per day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana refinery on Monday, sources familiar with plant operations said on Tuesday.
GASOLINE
Gunvor sold to Vitol a barge of benchmark Eurobob gasoline in the afternoon trading window at $451 a tonne fob ARA, up from $446 a tonne on Monday.
Some 14,000 tonnes of eurobob barges traded throughout the day at $450 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $448-$468 the day before. Total and Gunvor sold to Statoil, Rolympus, BP and Cargill.
Rolympus sold to Total a barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $469 a tonne fob ARA, up from $462 a tonne the day before.
The June swap stood at $472 a tonne at the close. * Gasoline barge refining margins fell to $9.83 a barrel, the first time they have dropped below $10 per barrel since late March according to Reuters data.
Brent crude oil futures were trading $1.69 a barrel lower at $45.32 a barrel at 1625 GMT.
US June RBOB gasoline was up 2.3 percent at $1.4759 a gallon.
The US gasoline crack stood at $17.48 a barrel, down from $17.18 a barrel on Monday.
NAPHTHA
There were no trades. There were offers at $377 and $378, compared to a trade at $367 the day before.-Reuters
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