LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe were flat on Wednesday, as US inventories rose, putting a further dampener on already low spot demand from oversupplied Europe.
Refiners are expecting west African demand, particularly Nigerian, will mop up the excess over the holidays.
Gasoline stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels, according to weekly US Energy Information Administration data, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel gain.
Austrian energy company OMV will expand further, focus on more value-added refined products and grow its marketing beyond Europe, its CEO said on Wednesday.
Ineos was restarting a 110,000 barrels-per-day crude unit at its Grangemouth, Scotland, oil refinery on Wednesday, two sources familiar with matter told Reuters, after it was briefly shut following the Forties pipeline outage.
GASOLINE
No barges of eurobob gasoline traded during the afternoon session. Bids emerged at $603 and $604 a tonne fob ARA, up from $596 a tonne on Tuesday. No offers surfaced.
Shell sold 6,000 tonnes to Gunvor and Finco elsewhere during the day at $597.50-$598.50 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up from deals at $593.50 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam on Tuesday.
Gunvor sold to Total two barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $606 and $607 a tonne fob ARA, up from $593 a tonne fob ARA in the previous session.
In the Mediterranean, Vitol bid for a cargo of gasoline up to $610 a tonne fob Med.
The January swap stood at $601 a tonne at the close, up from $591.50 a tonne.
The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin was flat at $6.5 a barrel from the previous close.
Brent crude futures were up 61 cents at $64.41 a barrel by 1629 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were up 1.79 percent at $1.7269 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude was up 4.83 percent at $14.99 a barrel.
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