Northwestern European gasoline refining margins rose on Thursday for a second consecutive day this week. Although coronavirus-related lockdowns dampened gasoline demand, trade remained high mainly for storage.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose in the week to Thursday by 12%, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Naphtha inventories dropped this week, after hitting a record high last week, as there were no incoming cargoes to the ARA region.

US gasoline stocks rose by 4.9 million barrels last week to a record high at 262.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Sudan will allow the private sector and banks to import fuel for the transportation, mining and industry sectors, the transitional cabinet said in a statement on Thursday.

Sudan is suffering a severe shortage of fuel as cars and trucks stand in long queues to get fuel.