Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe slightly declined on Wednesday amid a strong rally in crude oil futures. US gasoline demand in January and February was expected to decline slightly from a year earlier due to higher prices and also as a result of the arctic weather in the US East Coast which tends to limit driving, Vienna-bases consultancy JBC Energy said.
The freezing weather across North America has drawn a number of tankers carrying diesel and heating oil from Europe, reversing a traditional trade route. Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) has delayed a planned shutdown of a 36,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) reformer, a 50,000 bpd hydrotreater and a benzene unit at the Girard Point section of the Philadelphia refinery complex due to severe weather conditions, according to a source familiar with the plant's operations.
Exports from Europe have picked up particularly to the United States and West Africa, according to shipping reports. A recent rise in US prices has opened up the arbitrage from Europe, traders said.
Nigeria's electricity grid has been shut down by a fire on a gas pipeline, the ministry of power said on Wednesday, underscoring the instability of the country's creaking power infrastructure. Three barges of eurobob gasoline traded during the afternoon session at $616-$617 a tonne fob ARA, up from $609 a tonne on Tuesday. Gunvor sold to Shell and Finco.
Comments
Comments are closed.