ARA fuel stocks fall on the week, Insights Global data shows

Refined oil products stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by nearly 4% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

• Total stock levels stood at 6.114 million metric tons, the data showed.
• The weekly drop was driven by a 9% tumble in gasoline inventories to 1.03 million tons.
• Gasoline exports out of ARA storage picked up on the week, according to Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen, with rising shipments to the Americas recorded, in addition to flows for rarer destinations South Africa and Australia.
• Gasoil stocks rose by 2.6% on the week to 2.26 million tonnes, the data showed.
• Demand for gasoline and gasoil in inland markets up the river Rhine firmed on the week after high water levels had hampered navigation earlier in the month.
• Naphtha stocks fell by nearly 23% to 375,000 tonnes, as more product was moved into gasoline blending tanks, or left ARA storage for delivery to petrochemical firms, van Wageningen added.
  Source: Reuters (Reporting by Robert Harvey, Editing by Mark Potter)