European spot prices rise with gasoline posting sharp increase

摘要

Spot product prices climbed in the week to Nov. 3, led by increases in light distillates that were mainly driven by a refinery outage. ULSD and heating oil margins fell at mid-week after the US EIA's inventory report showed a smaller-than-expected draw, which could lend support to the transatlantic arbitrage. US middle distillate inventories slipped 0.3MM bbl to 128.9MM bbl, against analysts' expectations for a 2.1MM-bbl drop. However, middle distillate stocks remained at their lowest since May 2015, and gasoil stocks held in Europe's ARA storage hub also slid, keeping a floor under prices. Also injecting some bullish sentiment was an uptick in demand for diesel barges and cargoes in Northwest Europe (NWE), traders noted.