You could be forgiven for thinking Hurricane Isaac made landfall in Northwest Europe last week instead of the US. With no stock cushion to protect the market from supply disruptions, Europe felt the full force of the storm, which was made much worse by an explosion at Venezuela's export-focused Amuay refinery. Lifeblood diesel and jet fuel oil imports were both in jeopardy as other regular suppliers ignored Europe to focus on the US. European buyers were left scrambling for cover, pushing distillate premiums to new 16-month highs. On the flip side, European traders themselves could cash in on bumper trans-Atlantic gasoline sales and revived Asia-Pacific interest in Russian fuel oil after the Amuay disaster triggered demand spikes in both markets.
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