Europe Gasoline-Prices Dip In Subdued Trade, Rhine In Focus
Gasoline barge prices in northwest Europe dipped slightly on Monday as activity remained subdued following last week's volatile price swings and the Rhine remained partly closed to shipping.
The German inland navigation authority said that salvage work to clear the Rhine of a capsized vessel carrying sulfuric acid could last another two to three weeks.
The river - an important shipping lane for barge trade to Germany, France and Switzerland - remains closed for northbound sailings but southbound sailings are being undertaken.
Conoco Phillips confirmed that scheduled maintenance was underway at its 146,000 barrel-per-day joint venture refinery in Borger, Texas.
Gasoline
• Barges of benchmark Eurobob did not trade in the window, but earlier in the afternoon were changing hands at between $850-$856 a ton fob ARA, down from $857 a ton fob ARA on Friday.
• About 6,000 tons traded earlier in the day, with Shell the most active seller, and Cargill and Trafigura amongst the buyers.
• Premium unleaded gasoline traded at $861-$865 a ton fob ARA, down from about $866-$871 a ton fob ARA on Friday afternoon.
• Some 5,000 tons of premium unleaded gasoline traded in the window, with Glencore and Trafigura the sellers and Totsa and Gunvor amongst the buyers.
• ICE Brent crude futures fell by 22 cents to $97.38 as traders focused on weaker equity markets and rising U.S. oil inventories.
• U.S. RBOB gasoline futures in New York slipped about 0.73% to $2.4410 a gallon. The crack spread widened to around $15.78 a barrel, from around $14.82 a barrel on Friday.
Naphtha
• Three deals were done in the window, with cargoes trading at between $847-$848.50 a ton cif, compared with $849 a ton cif on Thursday.
• Gunvor and Vilma were sellers and Glencore and BP were buyers.
• The naphtha market has been dogged by weak demand as petrochemical buyers switch to rival feedstock propane.
• Naphtha spot crack spreads slipped to negative $2.24 a barrel, from just below negative $1 on Friday.
• The propane/naphtha spread has narrowed to around $2.39 for the front month of February, and then goes negative for March. This is usually a signal for users to switch feedstocks.
