Northwest European diesel barge refining margins fell by about $1 to $24.45 a barrel on Friday even as demand picked up, amid ample supplies.

Trading liquidity rose sharply to about 21,000 metric tons as Mercuria sold to Mabanaft, Total and Vitol.

BP sold two cif Amsterdam cargoes to Total.

Global diesel deliveries into Europe in December hit a three-month high of 5.13 million tons, up from 4.34 million tons in November, LSEG tracking showed.

Gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by 2% in the week to Jan. 4 to 1.787 million tons, according to data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

Demand for gasoil, which includes diesel and heating oil, dropped in inland markets and imports slowed, Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

Meanwhile, U.S. distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 10.1 million barrels last week, the most since January 2019, to 125.9 million barrels, versus expectations in a Reuters poll for a 588,000 barrel rise, Energy Information Administration data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; editing by Jonathan Oatis)