Gasoline cracks slide on US inventory rise

Northwest European gasoline refining margins fell by about $2 to $12.6 a barrel on Wednesday following an unexpected rise in U.S. weekly inventories.

• Three Eurobob E5 barges traded following a quiet previous session. Gunvor and Vitol sold to ExxonMobil and Mabanaft.

• Musket sold an E10 barge to BP.

• U.S. gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI) rose by 3.3 million barrels last week to 233 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.​

• Gasoline exports from Europe to the U.S. East Coast continue to be limited by weak arbitrage opportunities due to weak U.S. demand, higher blending costs in Europe and higher freight rates, Sparta Commodities analyst Jorge Molinero said.

• The weakness in exports to the United States led to an increase in shipments from Europe to Latin America over the past month, though the U.S. Gulf Coast is once again the cheapest option of supply into the region, he added.

• "This leaves Europe with few alternatives in the current market and will continue to exert downward pressure on spreads and cracks if this trend persists in the coming weeks," Molinero said.

• EU and UK gasoline and blending component exports have reached 970,000 barrels per day (bpd) so far this month, compared with 1.11 million bpd in June. ​