Northwest European gasoline refining margins rose on Monday as exports to the US East Coast picked up following a fire at a major East Coast refinery. Gasoline exports from Europe to the US East Coast rose in recent days after the June 21 fire at the 335,000 barrel-per-day Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc refinery.
Around 12 cargoes totalling around 440,000 tonnes of gasoline and blending components have been booked out of Europe on the transatlantic route in the first week of July, according to shipping data. High freight rates continue to narrow the arbitrage opportunities, traders said.
Gasoline stocks in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by 6% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed. Refinitiv Oil Research projects exports of Northwest European gasoline to the United States to stand at 356,000 tons this week, aboard nine tankers. This represents a 20% increase in export volumes week-on-week.