Benchmark gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe slipped on Thursday as the key Colonial pipeline in the United States restarted, potentially lessening the need for European imports to the US East Coast. Colonial Pipeline Co said its main gasoline line was safely restarted on Wednesday and returned to service after its biggest leak in nearly two decades squeezed supply and led to increased prices at the pump in the Southeast United States.
The line carries 1.3 million barrels per day of gasoline from the refining hub on the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, and its outage sapped gasoline stocks in the PADD 1 region and led to more demand for exports from Europe. Gasoline cracks in both Europe and the United States fell back to the early September before the pipeline went down.
Oil products held in independent storage in Europe's ARA hub stood more than 20 percent below a year ago, according to data from Dutch consultancy PJK International. Stocks were down just under 5 percent on the week, with gasoline and naphtha drawn by demand in the United States and China and from petrochemical units within Europe.
Shell sold to Gunvor one barge of benchmark eurobob winter grade gasoline at $475 a tonne fob ARA. This compared with bids on Wednesday at $463 a tonne. Some 5,000 tonnes traded earlier in the day at $483 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up by $1. Gunvor and Shell sold to Rolympus.