Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline margins close week higher after summer switch

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining profit rose sharply on the week to around $12.27 per barrel, after the seasonal switch from winter to summer grade product earlier this week.

• Eurobob gasoline margins rose over $1 a barrel on the day on Friday, and doubled from last Friday's close, to around $12.27.

• A total of 7,000 metric tons of Eurobob E10 traded on Friday, with Phillips 66 selling to Varo.

• Another 3,000 tons of Eurobob E5 traded on Friday, with Litasco selling to Trafigura, and Trafigura selling to BP.

• The seasonal switch from winter grade to summer grade gasoline Eurobob barges occurred between Monday and Wednesday. Summer grade gasoline typically commands a premium to winter grade because of its tighter evaporability specification.

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

• China has issued export quotas for 12.8 million tons of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel in its second batch of allowances this year, down by 1.2 million tons from a year earlier, trade sources and a China-based consultancy said on Friday.

• Russia is increasing exports of motor fuels to Bolivia, according to data from LSEG vessel tracking and industry sources, as an energy crisis worsens in the Latin American country and Moscow needs to expand sales hit by Western sanctions.​

• EU and UK gasoline and blending component exports to other regions are on track to reach 818,000 barrels per day in March, according to Kpler data, down from 867,000 bpd in February.