Margins ease as crude hits four-year high

摘要

1. Light distillate and feedstock prices narrowed against crude, as benchmark North Sea Dated rose to its highest level in four years. A rise in independent stocks at Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA), particularly for gasoline and fuel oil, also weighed on margins. But middle distillates drew support from gains in underlying gasoil futures. 2. Eurobob oxy gasoline margins to North Sea Dated fell by around $2.50/bl to $6/ bl (see graph). Demand from North America remained weak after the summer driving season, while refinery restarts in the Mideast Gulf and west India slowed European cargo flows to the Mideast Gulf. West African demand remained robust.