Northwest European gasoline refining margins dropped to seven-year lows of minus $3.80 a barrel as rising stocks in the Atlantic basin continued to weigh heavily. Benchmark US gasoline refining margins dropped after EIA data showed gasoline stocks rose last week by 4.1 million barrels, compared with expectations for a gain of 2.7 million barrels in a Reuters poll of analysts.

That is the highest gasoline level on record. Refinery crude runs fell by 174,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilisation rates fell by 1.7 percentage points. ARA gasoline stocks declined slightly in the week to Thursday, slipping to 1.352 million tonnes as exports to the Middle East and Asia picked up, data from Dutch consultancy PJK International showed. Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is this week expected to award a tender to import up to 1.2 million barrels of gasoline for delivery between late January and mid-February at any of its ports.

Copyright Reuters, 2019