Northwest European diesel barge refining margins on Friday hovered near a week low at around $28 a barrel after sources told Reuters a possible end to a ban on Russian diesel imports might come within days.

Vitol was the only seller in a very quiet trading session with Mabanaft and Trafigura buying one diesel barge each.

Oil prices rose on Friday but are set to fall for a third week amid signs of slowing demand and as market attention turns to a key meeting of OPEC and its allies this month which will determine the group’s next move on production.

Russian fuel producers have been told by the government to prepare for the scrapping of all remaining restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline, three industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub fell by 2.7% in the week to Thursday to 1.72 million metric tons – their lowest since December 2022, Insights Global data showed.

Global supplies of diesel were expected to rise in the coming months as plants in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific return from maintenance, traders said.

Diesel flows into Europe in October tumbled to their lowest since May 2022 on the back of weaker industrial demand and many refineries in key supply locations such as India, the Middle East and U.S. closing units for maintenance, LSEG analyst Raj Rajendran said. Global imports into the region fell in October to 4.64 million tons.

Imports are, however, expected to rise in November, reaching 3.36 million tons so far, according to shipping data, Rajendran said. Middle East volumes in November already exceed arrivals made in October at 1.72 million tons.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla, editing by David Evans)