Northwest European diesel barge refining margins ended the week slightly higher at $32.8 a barrel as regional demand for diesel and heating oil rose.

Barge premiums to low-sulphur gasoil futures LCOc1 slightly rose as inland demand remained strong amid continuing refinery maintenance in Germany.

Demand for heating oil was also strong ahead of the winter, traders said.

Gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by about 1% in the week to Thursday to 1.77 million metric tons, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

U.S. distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell last week by 0.8 million barrels to 111.3 million barrels, as demand for heating oil picked up seasonally.

Global diesel imports into Europe this month are scheduled to reach 4.96 million metric tons, down sharply from 5.67 million tons last month, LSEG data showed.

Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC Ltd will supply the new 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote oil refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil in December to be used in test runs, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)