Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe ended the week slightly higher, supported by falling Atlantic basin inventories. Gasoline inventories on both sides of the Atlantic have fallen in recent weeks, giving margins some reprieve, but the market remains oversupplied, traders said.
Stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub fell by 4.3 percent in the week to February 23, while US inventories were down last week by a sharp 2.6 million barrels. But the arbitrage from Europe to the United States remains shut for now because supplies remain at elevated levels. Naphtha margins also rose but were under pressure from lacklustre demand from gasoline blenders as well as from the European petrochemicals industry, traders said.
Asian demand, for now, is giving European values a floor, traders said. Gunvor sold to Castleton one barge of benchmark European gasoline in the afternoon window at $548 a tonne fob ARA and another barge to Vitol at $549 a tonne. This compares with a trade at $549 a tonne fob ARA on Thursday.