Northwest European diesel barge refining margins were broadly steady at $19.42 a barrel in limited trading activity.

Four diesel barges traded in the Platts window, similar to levels in the previous session. ExxonMobil and Belgomine sold to Shell, Vitol and Mabanaft.

Independently held gasoil stocks in storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by 1.2% in the week to July 11 to 2.16 million metric tons, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

European diesel markets are looking bearish until September when refinery maintenance season kicks in, Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick said.

U.S. distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose last week by 4.9 million barrels to 124.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.8 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

EU and UK diesel and gasoil imports stood at about 1.04 million barrels per day in June, nearly 20% below May levels, Kpler data showed. July import levels are set to reach 854,000 bpd so far.

U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 296,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending July 12, lowering available refining capacity by 187,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Friday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)