European gasoline margins slightly higher

Benchmark northwest European gasoline refining margins edged slightly higher on Tuesday, but remained near their lowest in five years as heavy supplies weighed. Bloated Atlantic basin stocks are weighing on the gasoline complex. Traders are taking advantage of weak European prices to move gasoline to other regions including on transatlantic journeys despite weak US demand.
Gunvor provisionally booked a tanker to load 60,000 tonnes of gasoline in ARA on October 22 to go to the Red Sea, Mideast Gulf or Singapore, according to shipping reports. The earlier-than-expected return of a gasoline-making unit at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) Ruwais oil refinery may add to a glut of the fuel in Asia, potentially weighing on prices, while fuel oil supplies could drop. ADNOC shut the 127,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) in the western section of the 800,000-bpd Ruwais plant in January 2017 after a fire at a linked petrochemical unit.