LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining margins dropped by around 50 cents to $13.92 a barrel on Tuesday amid weak buying activity and limited export opportunities.
- Four Eurobob E10 barges traded in the Argus window, with Shell selling to BP, BMW and Trafigura.
- Two barges of Eurobob E5 traded in the Argus window. Shell sold to Exxon and Varo
- Economics for gasoline exports from Europe to the U.S. East Coast remain weak, Sparta Commodities analyst Philip Jones-Lux said in a note.
- At the same time exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast remain high, putting further pressure on European gasoline, he added.
- Japan's gasoline imports are expected to stay elevated through August after rising 20% in June as outages at its refineries are reducing output during peak summer demand season, traders and analysts said.
- Independently held gasoline stocks in storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub stood at about 1.07 million metric tons, rising 3.6% on the week, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
- "Gasoline exports from Northwest Europe and West Mediterranean reached a 6-month high of 3.48 million tons in July after averaging between 2.5 million tons and 2.8 million tons in the previous five months, as summer driving season grew requirements from the US," LSEG analyst Abdul Hadhi said.
Trade Bid Offer Prev. Seller Buyer EbobBarges MOC Platts E5 (fob ARA)
Ebob Barges E10 Platts(fo b ARA) Ebob $766.50 $758 Shell Exxon, Barges (3kt) Varo ArgusE5(fob AR)
Ebob $757.75- $771-$8 Shell BP, Barges $765.50 04.50 BMW, E10 Argus Trafig(fob AR) ura Sept swap $761.25 $755.50 (fob ARA)
Premium $774 $778 $770-77 Unleaded 1 (7(fob ARA) barges)
Cargoes FOB Med (fob MED) cargo BL+5 +$9.00 bss Agioi Theodor oi Cargoes $810 $805 Musket Trafig (cif NW (Thames) ura E)Naphtha (cif NW E)
Ebob crack (per barrel) $13.93 Prev. $14.34 Brent futures LCOc1 Rbob RBc1 Rbob crack RBc1-CLc1
