Northwest European gasoline profit margins fell by about $1.50 a barrel on Friday, after Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery began the restart process for its gasoline unit.

A total of 5,200 metric tons of Eurobob E5 gasoline barges traded as Varo and Exxon Mobil sold to Gunvor and Trafigura.

No barges of Eurobob E10 gasoline traded on Friday.

Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery began the restart process of its gasoline unit and is expected to resume production by Sunday, according to industry monitor IIR on Thursday. The refinery’s 204,000 bpd Residue Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU) has been offline since late August, tightening supply of the motor fuel in the Atlantic basin and boosting prices.

Gasoline blendstock differentials broadly moved higher this week, boosted by strength in the Singapore and European markets, said Philip Jones-Lux, a senior analyst with Sparta.

EU and UK gasoline exports to other regions averaged 718,000 bpd in October so far, according to Kpler data, compared with 915,000 bpd in September.

Multiple units were offline at BP’s 440,000 barrel-per-day Whiting oil refinery in Indiana, the largest in the U.S. Midwest region, two market sources on Friday said, citing data from Wood Mackenzie.
Source: Reuters