Northwest European gasoline barge refining margins fell to around $5.20 a barrel on Thursday on rising US inventories, but a fall in regional stocks capped losses. US gasoline stocks rose by 1.7 million barrels last week to 260 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analyst expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel rise.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped by almost 10% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Exports of European gasoline to the Arabian Gulf (AG) was strong, reducing the stocks, Insights Global's Patrick Kulsen said. Arrivals of European gasoline and gasoline components to the United States have remained low at about 202,700 tonnes so far in January.