LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining margins slipped to $20.74 a barrel on Thursday, easing from multi-month highs hit on Wednesday as crude prices steadied after days of losses.
- A total of 4,000 metric tons of Eurobob E10 traded, and another 4,000 metric tons of E5 traded.
- Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped by over 13% during the week to Thursday, the lowest since early February, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
- Gasoline stocks declined to 982,000 metric tons after strong exports to the Brazil and Canada, Insights Global's Lars van Wageningen said.
- Higher demand from inland markets in France and Germany, where several refineries are experiencing maintenance shutdowns, also contributed to the decline, he added.
- "The wave of global refinery turnarounds is set to peak in April at 3.7 million barrels per day offline," JP Morgan said in a note.
- "Traditionally, refinery maintenance is planned when demand is seasonally low, but this year the situation in the Red Sea, combined with attacks on Russian energy facilities, as well as several unplanned plant outages, have tightened fuel markets, boosting prices of diesel and gasoline in the U.S. and Europe."
- U.S. gasoline stocks fell last week by 1.2 million barrels to 227.4 million barrels, the EIA said, more than expectations for a 900,000-barrel draw.
- Stronger gasoline refining margins compared to those for producing diesel could lead refiners to shift more production towards gasoline, traders said.
Trade Bid Offer Prev. Buyer Seller EbobBarges MOC Platts E5 (fob ARA)
Ebob Barges E10 Platts(fo b ARA) Ebob $919-$ $943, Trafigu Varo Barges 919.25 $951.50 ra Argus (4KT)E5(fob AR)
Ebob $913.7 $941.50 Shell Varo Barges 5 , E10 Argus (4KT) $951.75(fob AR) May swap $934.50 (fob ARA)
Premium $933 $972-$9 Trafigu Musket Unleaded 75 ra (fob ARA)
Cargoes (fob MED) Cargoes (cif NWE) Naphtha April (cif NWE) +$3 Ebob crack (per barrel) $20.738 Prev. $21.289 Brent futures LCOc1 Rbob RBc1 Rbob crack RBc1-CLc1
