LONDON: Benchmark northwest European gasoline margins extended gains to around $3.60 a barrel on Thursday as inventories drew down on both sides of the Atlantic.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell nearly 7% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Stocks stood at 1.21 million tonnes, falling as exports, particularly on transatlantic routes, firmed, Insights Global's Lars van Wageningen said.

US gasoline stocks fell last week by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 236.56 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7 million-barrel rise.