A contango of about $3.50 a tonne in the diesel futures market pointed to rising supplies in the region after imports from Asia, the Middle East and the US Gulf Coast rose in recent weeks, with more expected in the coming weeks, traders said.

ARA gasoil stocks rose 6.3pc in the week to July 4 on higher imports from India, Russia and the United States, though demand up the Rhine river was fairly strong, said Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

The PCK refinery in eastern Germany has resumed processing Russian oil from the Druzhba pipeline after the latest discovery of contamination last week led to production being suspended, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Monday.