Germany's 240,000 barrel per day PCK refinery in Schwedt is still running at reduced capacity following planned maintenance and has crude oil stored for around eight days of full production, a spokeswoman said.

Russia was set to hold talks with Poland, Belarus and Ukraine about how to solve a problem of polluted Russian oil being pumped through a major pipeline serving Europe and which supplies refineries as far west as Germany.

ARA gasoil stocks slightly declined in the week to Thursday to 2.764 million tonnes, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Demand in key inland markets was weak because of higher outright oil prices and barge freight rates, traders said.

Water levels along the Rhine river have dropped in recent days as a result of dry weather, limiting barge loading capacity to about 50 percent in some areas, traders and brokers said.

Diesel imports from the US Gulf Coast were expected to reach about 800,000 tonnes in April and more than 900,000 tonnes in May, when refineries return from seasonal maintenance, according to traders.