LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe rose on Wednesday to a near one-month high at around $15 a tonne, supported by exports and expectations of tighter supplies in October
While most traders have covered their buying quotas for September, supplies for October appear tight as refinery output is expected to decline due to refinery maintenance.
"October seems very tight," one trader said. A sharp rise in US gasoline stocks put heavy pressure on the benchmark RBOB gasoline futures, limiting export opportunities from Europe, traders said.
Gasoline stocks in the United States rose by 2.4 million barrels to 212.37 million barrels, far exceeding forecasts of a 0.2 million barrel build, the Energy Information Administration reported.
Stocks in the US East Coast rose 0.184 million barrels to 57.147 million barrels.
Refinery maintenance in Canada's East Coast and problems with crude supply to refineries in the US East Coast have increased arbitrage opportunities from Europe in recent days.
Exports to West Africa of summer-grade gasoline also rose this week as European product prices declined, traders said.
Around 20 tankers carrying a total of nearly 800,000 tonnes of gasoline were booked so far this month to North and Latin America and West Africa, according to Reuters shipping data.
GASOLINE:
No barges of benchmark Eurobob gasoline traded in the afternoon price assessment window. There were no bids or offers.
About 15,000 tonnes traded ahead of the window at prices from $931-$953 a tonne fob ARA, up from $935-941 a tonne on Tuesday. Total, Statoil and Litasco sold to Vitol, Shell, Morgan Stanley, BP, Trafigura, OelPool and Argos.
The early trades came at premiums to the October swap of $55.50-$64 a tonne, compared with Tuesday's premiums at $46-$49.75. The October swap traded at $876 a tonne fob ARA at end of trade.
One barge of premium unleaded gasoline traded at $955 a tonne fob ARA, down from $966 a tonne traded on Tuesday.
At 1545 GMT, Eurobob's crack to dated Brent was at about $15.05 a barrel, up from $13.70 a barrel on Tuesday.
Brent crude oil futures were down $1.05 at $98.11 a barrel.
US RBOB gasoline futures for October were down 0.97 percent at $2.5240 a gallon.
The prompt crack was at $14.26 a barrel, little changed.
NAPHTHA:
No naphtha cargoes traded.
The prompt naphtha crack was at about minus $2.97 a barrel, up from minus $4.64 a barrel, according to a Reuters calculation.
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