Northwest European gasoline refining margins slumped to a 10-month low of around $6 barrel on Friday on the back of the switch to the cheaper winter grade and weak exports from the region.

Northwest Europe (NWE) gasoline exports in September are on track to sink to their lowest level since April 2020 as dire transatlantic arbitrage economics and the removal of subsidies in Nigeria cut away flows to the United States (US) and West Africa (WAF), said LSEG analyst Raj Rajendran.

Despite the reduced exports, values in NWE are holding their own even as the industry moves to cheaper winter grades due mostly to refinery closures for autumn maintenance and the odd glitches, he added.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub were little changed in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed. ARA/

Stocks edged higher to 1.33 million metric tons as exports to transatlantic locations rose while volumes to West Africa fell, Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 1 million barrels in the week to 220.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 120,000-barrel drop.EIA/S

NWE gasoline exports to the United States in September so far are pegged at 811,000 metric tons compared with 828,000 in August, according to LSEG shipping data.

Exports from NWE to West Africa in September stand at around 856,000 tons so far, below the 968,000 tons in August, the data showed.

Switch to winter grade completed.

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla)