Northwest European gasoline refining margins ended the week higher at $10.8 a barrel as disruptions to shipping through the Red Sea led to supply concerns.

A total of 4,000 metric tons of Eurobob E10 barges traded on Friday, with Shell selling to Varo.

Varo sold one 2,000 ton barge of Eurobob E5 to TotalEnergies.

Gasoline stocks in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) rose in the week to Thursday by 7% to 875,000 tons, marking their first weekly increase since the week to Nov. 30, according to Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

Traders began to refill gasoline inventories after a lengthy period of stock draws, according to Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen, as slowing export volumes saw less gasoline taken out of storage over the week.

In the U.S., gasoline stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels in the week to Jan. 12, to 248.1 million barrels according to the EIA. Analysts had forecast a 2.2 million barrel build.

At that level, gasoline inventories hit their highest level since March 2022, with Gulf Coast stockpiles swelling to their most since May 2021.

The Brent crude market structure and some physical markets in Europe and Africa are reflecting tighter supply resulting partly from concern about shipping delays due to vessels avoiding the Red Sea, according to traders, LSEG data and analysts.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Sharon Singleton)