Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline margins rise sharply on lower stocks

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining profit rose sharply by $2.83 to $11.26 a barrel on Thursday as regional inventories dropped amid a switch to more expensive summer grade fuel.

• Varo sold an E5 gasoline barge to Litasco in the Platts window. Another 1,200 metric tons traded in the Argus window as Litasco sold to Sahara.

• A further 3,000 tons of Eurobob E10 traded as Varo and BP bought from P66.

• Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell 3.4% to 1,374 million metric tons, driven by higher exports, particularly on the transatlantic route, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

• Meanwhile, U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to 239.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel draw.

• Refinery crude runs rose by 87,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.​

• EU and UK gasoline and blending component exports to other regions are on track to reach 841,000 barrels per day in March, according to Kpler data, down from 873,000 bpd in February.