Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe firmed on Thursday, boosted by strong demand in Asia and the Middle East. Heavy refinery maintenance in the Middle East and lower Indian exports to that region have boosted its interest in Europe's exports. But traders said incremental increases in European gasoline over the next two weeks were looking weak.
Prices were also boosted by a rise of over 3 percent in US RBOB cracks, which rose on the back of firmer Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) prices. Gasoline stocks in independent storage at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub were little changed in the week to Thursday at 804,000 tonnes, while naphtha stocks fell due to strong demand from European petrochemical buyers, data from Dutch consultancy PJK International showed.
China's oil refineries increased their run rates by 12.7 percent to a record for September, data showed on Thursday, after a major new state-run refinery launched operations and independent plants came back on stream after maintenance. Global oil refining capacity might not meet demand for oil products after 2020 as consumption continues to grow, boosting profit margins, Roger Brown, chief executive of European refiner Varo Energy, said on Thursday.
Gunvor sold to Varo two barges of eurobob gasoline at $551 a tonne fob ARA, up slightly from a trade at $550 a tonne on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Total sold to BP 10,000 tonnes worth of barges at $548.50-$558 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with trades at $553 a tonne on Wednesday.
Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $562 a tonne fob ARA. The November swap stood at $549.50 a tonne at the close, compared with $546 a tonne the previous day. The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin edged up to $8.02 a barrel from $7.13 a barrel on Wednesday.