LONDON: Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe regained some ground on Monday after dropping by more than 4 percent last week. While exports to the US East Coast slowed, the Middle East and Asia have pulled in large amounts of European product.
Rising stocks in the United States, along with the end of the peak driving season, have weighed on demand in the nation, traders said.
Still, traders said buyers in the Middle East and Asia are preparing for high refinery maintenance in the winter months by buying gasoline and reformate, including hundreds of thousands of tonnes from Europe.
More than 500,000 tonnes have already sailed east this month from Europe, with close to 200,000 tonnes more set to load over the coming week.
Analysts JBC said that in terms of forward cover, gasoline and diesel stocks had fallen significantly, with the market "rebalanced from this perspective."
"Together with little spare capacity and still-strong demand, we expect relatively erratic movements in cracks to keep market participants on their toes," JBC said.
Saudi Arabia plans to impose a 5 percent value-added tax on gasoline from Jan. 1, 2018, the Saudi tax department said on one of its Twitter accounts.
Motorists logged 0.3 percent more miles on US roads and highways in September than a year earlier according to data released on Monday by the US Department of Transportation, as volumes were dented by powerful Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Volumes, however, remained on track to outpace last year's record high.
GASOLINE
Gunvor sold to Vitol one cargo in the afternoon window at $584 a tonne fob.
Some 18,000 tonnes traded elsewhere during the day between $586-$588 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with trades from $580 and $589 a tonne on Friday. Shell, Total, BP and Vitol sold to Gunvor, Vitol and Trafigura.
Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $586 a tonne fob ARA, compared with trades on Friday at $590 and $591 a tonne.
The December swap stood at $582.50 a tonne at the close, down form $585 a tonne on Friday.
The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin edged higher to $8.55 a barrel from $8.09 a barrel.
Brent crude futures fell by 70 cents to $62.02 a barrel by 1657 GMT.
US front-month RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.34 percent at $1.7387 a gallon.
The RBOB crack versus US crude fell 1.08 percent to $16.55 a barrel.
NAPHTHA
No naphtha cargo trades were reported.
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