Northwest European gasoline refining margins recorded a sharp uptick on Thursday, climbing by approximately $9 to reach $42.03 per barrel. The advance followed a prior trading session that saw margins fall to the lowest level observed in a month.
Market activity in the Argus trading window provided concrete examples of traded volumes. In that window, 12,000 metric tons of Eurobob E5 barges changed hands, with ExxonMobil and ATL listed as sellers and BP and TotalEnergies as buyers. In a separate set of transactions within the same trading window, Shell, Total and Exxon sold 12,000 tons of Eurobob E10 barges to Varo and BP.
Inventory movements at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub showed a modest decline. Independently held gasoline stocks at the ARA hub fell by 1.5% to 826,000 tons. Dutch consultancy Insights Global, in data released Thursday, said the drop coincided with export cargoes departing for West Africa and the United States.
On the policy and supply side of the fuel market, the Swiss government announced on Thursday that it had approved withdrawals from mandatory jet fuel reserves to prevent a supply shortage at Zurich Airport. The government framed the action as a precautionary step to maintain supply continuity for aviation at the Swiss gateway.
Across the Atlantic, weekly U.S. data from the Energy Information Administration showed gasoline stocks rose by 3.5 million barrels to a total of 208.3 million barrels. That outcome contrasted with a consensus of analysts surveyed prior to the report, who had forecast a 0.5 million-barrel decrease for the week.
The latest set of market moves - a rebound in margins, active barge trades in the Argus window, ARA hub stock declines, Swiss reserve withdrawals and an unexpected rise in U.S. gasoline inventories - together sketch a snapshot of near-term gasoline supply and demand dynamics affecting refining and transportation sectors.