LONDON: Benchmark gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe dropped to their lowest since late July as exports from the region slowed.
Gasoline exports from Europe slowed down this week as the surge following Hurricane Harvey petered off. Several cargoes were booked to go to North America, West Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
Exports of reformate, a gasoline blending component, from Europe to China rose sharply in recent weeks and are expected to reach around 600,000 tonnes in September, traders said.
US gasoline stocks fell last week by 2.1 million barrels, EIA data showed, in line with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll.
US gasoline demand over the past four weeks was at 9.52 million bpd, 0.3 percent lower than a year earlier, as the impact from hurricanes Harvey and Irma continues to be felt.
Crude oil intake could hit a staggering 83 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, energy consultancy JBC said in a note. Strong refining margins are supporting record refinery runs, the Vienna-based consultancy said, despite the crippling of US Gulf Coast refineries in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
GASOLINE
No barges traded in the afternoon window, and there were no bids or offers.
Elsewhere during the day, 22,000 tonnes traded at $576-$584 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $578-$580 a tonne on Tuesday.
Gunvor sold to Total a barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $590 a tonne fob ARA.
No cargoes traded. BP offered one cargo fob Thessaloniki at $565 a tonne.
The October swap stood at $551.50 a tonne at the close, up slightly from $549 a tonne.
The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin fell to $11.71 a barrel from $12.18 a barrel the previous day.
Brent crude futures were up $1.10 at $56.24 a barrel by 1529 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.25 percent at $1.6508 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude was down 3.15 percent at $19.40 a barrel.
NAPHTHA
No naphtha cargo traded.
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