LONDON: Benchmark northwest European gasoline margins started the week firmly in positive territory at above $2 a barrel as transatlantic exports buoyed prices, following a brief fall into the red on Friday.

Last week Refinitiv Oil Research tracked gasoline departures from northwest Europe to the United States of about 185,000 tons, buoyed in the last two weeks by favourable arbitrage conditions.

But following unexpected builds in US gasoline inventories, Refinitiv analysts expect to see a slowdown in departures this week as prices are pressured.

Iran said on Monday that a US move this month to seize a cargo of oil on the grounds that it came from Tehran was an act of piracy, adding that the shipment did not belong to the Iranian government.

Japanese refiners led by the biggest, Eneos Corp, shut down a fifth of the country’s crude oil refining capacity after a powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan, knocking out power and bullet train lines, and injuring more than 150 people.

The number of people who travelled in China ahead of Lunar New Year plummeted from two years ago as coronavirus restrictions curbed the world’s largest annual domestic migration.

Gasoline stocks in northwestern Europe rose 1.4% to 1.31 million tonnes in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.—Reuters