European gasoline margins slip on rising supplies

Gasoline refining margins declined on Wednesday on concerns over rising supplies in the region as more fuel was being stored on ships. US gasoline stocks fell last week by 1.1 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million barrel drop, according to EIA data.
More than 400,000 tonnes of gasoline were being stored on tankers off the coast of northwest Europe, according to traders and shipping data, as land storage hit a record high last week. Exports to the US East Coast remained very limited, with no new tankers booked on the route over the past 24 hours, according to Reuters shipping data.
Chinese state energy giant CNPC said on Tuesday it has sold its first ever gasoline to the Americas, with a 35,000-tonne cargo setting sail for the Bahamas on March 30. The long journey of Chinese gasoline to the Americas is the latest indicator of a refined product supply overhang building in Asia as well as in Europe and as China's refined fuel inventory hit a record high in February.
Vitol is storing gasoline on tankers offshore Singapore, Asia's biggest oil trading centre, for the first time since 2016 amid oversupply and weak demand for the fuel, four people that participate in the market said. Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of eurobob gasoline for $648 a tonne fob ARA, compared with trades of $656 and $657 a tonne on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, two barges traded at $655-$656 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $660-$665 a tonne. Gunvor sold to Glencore, BP sold to Castleton.
Eleven barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded at $680-$681 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $687-$690 a tonne a day earlier. Interchem and Glencore sold to Total. Total sold to Vitol one cargo of premium unleaded gasoline at $648 a tonne fob Med, compared with $651 a tonne fob Rijeka a day earlier.
The May swap stood at $653.50 a tonne at the close, down from $662.50 a tonne. The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin fell to $11.292 a barrel from $11.873 a barrel. Brent crude futures were down 75 cents at $67.61 a barrel at 1555 GMT.