Spot product prices climbed in the week to April 12,mostly due to tightening stocks,especially for gasoline,which recorded a massive draw.Gasoline sentiment continued to strengthen,amid dwindling inventories and rising demand.The US EIA's weekly inventory report on Wednesday showed that stocks dropped 7.7MM bbl to 229.1MM bbl,well beyond the expected draw of 2.0MM bbl and marking the largest weekly decline since Sept 2017.Stocks have now fallen for eight straight weeks,settling at a four-month low.In the Midwest,trading whipped back and forth.Differentials in the Chicago hub dropped at the start of the week after recent refinery buying had dissipated,which could have been due to the completion of refinery work in the region.On Tuesday,however,differentials increased in both the Chicago and Group Three hubs,as refinery buying had resumed,but at the end of the week,refiners were once again aggressively selling,traders said.On the Gulf Coast,differentials slid to a three-week low by Wednesday,when trading began on the Colonial Pipeline's 23rd cycle for delivery to the New York Harbor(NYH).In the NYH,gasoline and RBOB prices jumped on supply tightness,posting sharper increases than seen in other regions.Gasoline prices also trekked upward on the West Coast,where California's Los Angeles market added to recent sharp gains.
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