LONDON: Diesel refining margins in northwest Europe clawed back the previous day's losses as several refinery outages underpinned prices.
Brent crude futures slid 1.68 percent lower after spiking the previous day due to the closure of the 450,000 barrels per day Forties crude pipeline.
The slide helped refinery margins rebound after they fell by more than a third earlier in the day, but refinery problems also helped.
INEOS said its 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) Grangemouth oil refinery had enough crude to keep running despite the Forties pipeline closure.
But a string of other refineries faced operational issues.
INEOS's 240,000 bpd Lavera oil refinery in the south of France was fully shut down due to a power outage on Monday, trading sources told Reuters.
A partial strike that started late on Sunday had halted shipments of products from one of Galp's two oil refineries, the 110,000 barrels-per-day Matosinhos plant near Porto, Portugal.
Spain's Petronor said on Tuesday it would restart a crude distillation unit at its 220,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Bilbao in northern Spain, following an outage on Monday due to a leak.
Deliveries of low-sulphur gasoil at expiry fell to 529 lots, or 52,900 tonnes, the lowest since February 2015, InterContinental Exchange data showed.
Traders said the outlook for diesel is mixed, as cold weather and refinery outages supported, but an expected influx of imports was en route.
US diesel production hit a record in recent weeks, and a shipping source said more than 780,000 tonnes for loading this month is already booked to Europe. That total is likely to rise.
A substantial increase in Russian exports is also expected, with total Baltics and Black Sea loadings set to reach 2.7 million tonnes in December. GASOIL
No gasoil barges traded.
No barges of gasoil with 50 ppm sulphur content traded.
The December ICE gasoil contract expired at $582.50 a tonne, up from $571.25 at November's expiry.
The January contract was trading at a $586.75 a tonne, $4 lower.
The January diesel refining margin to Brent crude futures was 2.9 percent higher at $13.18 a barrel.
DIESEL
Some 21 diesel barges traded at 50 cent premiums to January diesel futures, compared with premiums of 50 cents to $1.25 a tonne to December diesel on Monday. Glencore sold 12 of the barges, while BP bought 16 of them. Hartree and Unipec also sold, while Shell and Licorne also purchased.
No cargoes traded.
JET FUEL
KLM sold to Vitol one 2,000 tonne barge at a $45 a tonne premium to January diesel.
Gunvor sold to Total one cargo, cif le Havre, at a $44 a tonne premium to January diesel.
FUEL OIL
Barges of fuel oil with 3.5 percent sulphur content traded at $336.50-$340 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $340.50-$341.50 a tonne on Monday.
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