Northwest European gasoline refining margins were little changed on Thursday, with heavy stocks on both sides of the Atlantic weighing on the market. Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose to 1.37 million tonnes in the week to Thursday, holding near their highest level since late March 2018, according to data from Dutch consultancy PJK International.

US gasoline stocks rose by 7.5 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.8 million barrel gain, Energy Information Administration data showed. Refinery crude runs fell by 343,000 barrels per day (bpd), EIA data showed. Refinery utilisation rates fell by 1.5 percentage points.

Royal Dutch Shell will begin "major maintenance work" on a number of units at its Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam from Jan. 25, the oil major said on Thursday. The maintenance is expected to last two months and at its peak will require 3,000 extra workers at the site, Shell said without specifying the units involved in the turnaround.

Copyright Reuters, 2019