Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline margins edge lower

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining profit margins fell by a marginal 25 cents a barrel on Monday to $5.42, as high inventories weigh on margins.

• A total of 4,000 metric tons of E5 gasoline barges traded, as Vitol sold to TotalEnergies.

• Another 5,500 tons of Eurobob E10 traded, as Varo and Shell bought from TotalEnergies and Musket.

• "The Eurobob outlook remains somewhat precarious with high inventories to clear, likely helped short-term by second quarter transatlantic arbitrage opportunities," said Sparta Commodities analyst Neil Crosby.

• Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by around 8.5% in the week to March 13 to 1.15 million tons, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

• But at that level, stocks were higher than the 1.23 million tons recorded in the same week of 2024.

• EU and UK gasoline exports are on track to reach 614,000 barrels per day in March, according to Kpler data, down from 869,000 bpd in February.

• But exports to the U.S. could increase on the month, from around 280,000 bpd in February to 312,000 bpd in March, the data show.