LONDON: Northwest European gasoline refining margins rose on Friday after edging lower in the previous session as transatlantic exports, although lower than the previous month, were stable enough to support margins.

Arrivals of European gasoline to the United States were seen at around 890,000 tonnes in July, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. The exports were around 1.1 million tonnes in June, and more than 2 million tonnes in July 2019.

ARA gasoline stocks rose slightly to 1.383 million tonnes in the week to Thursday even as exports to North America remained relatively strong, according to data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

US oil refiners are expected to have 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending July 31, decreasing available refining capacity by 74,000 bpd from the previous week, research company IIR Energy said on Friday.

Exxon Mobil Corp reported a $1.1 billion second-quarter loss on sharply lower energy demand and prices from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chevron Corp also reported an $8.3 billion loss in the second quarter, and US refiner Phillips 66 reported a quarterly loss compared to a year-ago profit.

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, will continue to operate its refineries below capacity in 2020/21 as it sees local and overseas fuel demand remaining subdued, IOC Chairman S. M. Vaidya said on Friday.