Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Cracks at 2-week low as exports lag
Northwest European gasoline refining margins dipped to a two-week low at around $20 a barrel on Friday as exports to the United States remained subdued.
Northwest Europe (NWE) gasoline exports in September are lagging well behind those shipped out a month ago due to poor transatlantic arbitrage economics, said LSEG analyst Raj Rajendran.
Shipments bound for the United States diverted south to Latin America and the Caribbean, while those to West Africa are recovering after an even slower start, he added.
NWE gasoline exports to the United States in September so far are pegged at 747,000 metric tons (mt) compared with 828,000 in August, according to LSEG shipping data.
Exports from NWE to West Africa in September stand at around 850,000 mt so far, below the 991,000 mt in August, the data showed.
Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped more than 6% to 1.33 million tons in the week to Thursday.
Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen said demand from inland locations was strong due to refinery maintenance.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 0.8 million barrels in the week to 219.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 million-barrel rise.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)