European gasoline margins fall

Northwest European gasoline refining margins fell on Thursday as European inventories dropped.

Gasoline stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by over 10% in the week to Thursday on firm exports, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Stocks fell for a second consecutive week to 796,000 tonnes, with exports on transatlantic journeys picking up, Insight Global's Lars van Wageningen said.

Arrivals of European gasoline to the United States were seen at around 840,900 tonnes in October, 20% lower than the same period last year, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. The amount was also 28% lower compared to September.

US gasoline stockpiles fell by 3 million barrels to about 220 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Independent US refiner HollyFrontier Corp plans for its five refineries to run at up to 76% of their combined capacity of 514,630 barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter of 2020, the company said on Thursday.

A pump seal leak triggered a fire on Wednesday night in the terminal area at Citgo Petroleum Corp's 157,500-bpd Corpus Christi, Texas, oil refinery, said a source familiar with plant operations. The terminal area is located in the East Plant of the Corpus Christi refinery, the source said.