Gasoline declined by over 7 percent on the back of busy exports on the transatlantic route and to West Africa. Total oil product stocks in independently held storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell to their lowest this year in the past week, data from Dutch consultancy PJK International showed.
EIA data showed US weekly gasoline stocks were up 1.17 million barrels at 237.98 million barrels last week. Colonial Pipeline Co's multi-product pipeline, Line 27, which was shut earlier this week along with three other lines as a precaution to investigate an "issue", has resumed normal operations. "All lines have resumed to normal operations," the company said in a notice to shippers on Friday.
The second-largest crude distillation unit (CDU) at Exxon Mobil Corp's 502,500 barrel per day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery may be shut one to two weeks to repair damage from a small fire, sources familiar with plant operations said on Friday. There were no trades of eurobob gasoline during the afternoon trading window. A bid emerged at $701 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $691 a day earlier.
Elsewhere, 10,000 tonnes of eurobob gasoline traded on barges at $695-$702 a tonne fob AR, compared with $686.75-$694 a tonne the previous day. Total and Prax sold to Shell, Vitol and Finco. No barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded. An offer came in at $706 a tonne fob ARA, up from an offer on Thursday at $697 a tonne.
Interchem sold a cargo to Total at $707.50 a tonne fob Med. The June swap stood at $705 a tonne at the close, up from $693.50 a tonne. The benchmark EBOB gasoline refining margin was little changed at $8.293 a barrel. Brent crude futures were up 63 cents to $74.25 a barrel by 1533 GMT.