Global refinery margins hold firm on gasoline worries

Global refinery margins held firm last week, supported by concern refiners will not have enough time to boost dwindling gasoline supplies in the US, just weeks ahead of the summer driving season.
US gasoline futures have surged by more than half since the beginning of February, while their value versus crude oil has risen six-fold during the same time as gasoline stocks fell for twelve weeks in a row, before rising at the start of May.
The International Energy Agency last week said gasoline supplies in the US have sunk to a 16-year low for the time of year, pushing pump prices above $3 a gallon to near record levels.
While the price surge has helped fuel a near doubling in refinery margins in the US and Europe since March, encouraging plants to run at maximum capacity, prolonged maintenance work in the US combined with a raft of unexpected refinery problems have slowed a recovery in operating run rates. US refineries were operating at 89 percent of capacity at the beginning of May, the lowest level for that time of year in 15 years.
US Gulf refineries running US light crude saw profit margins rise to $22.26 a barrel last week, up $2.24 a barrel from the previous week, and from $9.03 a barrel over the past year, Reuters data showed on Monday. Profit margins at plants cracking Brent crude rose $2.25 to $18.88 a barrel. That was up from $8.24 a barrel over the past year.
Tight US gasoline supplies have likewise helped drive up refinery margins in Europe. Profit margins at complex Rotterdam refineries held steady at $11.06 a barrel, versus $11.27 the previous week, but more than double to $4.97-a-barrel levels over the past year.
Simple refineries posted profit margins of $5.97 a barrel, down six cents from the previous week, but up from an average 94-cents-a-barrel profit levels over the past year. In the Mediterranean, refineries have also benefited from high diesel and gas oil prices as rising gas oil demand from the eastern Mediterranean region reduced supplies to the rest of the region.
Profit margins at complex refineries cracking Urals crude nudged up 19 cents from the previous week to $11.81 a barrel. Margins over the past year have averaged $5.84 a barrel. Simple refineries posted profit levels of $7.47 a barrel, up 46 cents from the previous week, and from an average of $2.04 a barrel over the past year.
In Asia, margins held firm, supported by naphtha at record levels amid strong petrochemical demand and thinner supplies from Europe, where demand for the product is rising as a blendstock for summer US gasoline. Complex refineries saw margins hold at $11.01 a barrel, versus $11.04 the previous week and an average $6.23 over the past year. Simple refineries saw margins slip to $3.12 a barrel, down from $3.47 a barrel the previous week, but up from an average seven-cents-a-barrel loss over the past year.