LONDON: Northwest European gasoline refining margins slightly declined after a smaller than expected drop in US inventories but remained supported by rising transatlantic exports.

* Gasoline exports from Europe to the US East Coast rose sharply in early July after a fire at a major refinery at the 335,000 barrel-per-day Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery on June 21.

* Around 18 tankers carrying a gasoline cargo of 37,000 tonnes, totalling 666,000 tonnes, or 5.62 million barrels, have been booked out of Europe on the transatlantic route in the first 10 days of July, according to shipping data obtained by Reuters.

* US gasoline stocks fell last week by 1.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel drop, according to EIA data.