Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline margins ease, low stocks limit losses

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline profit margins slipped by 86 cents to about $15 a barrel on Friday after sharp gains in the previous session brought about by lower inventories and sharply higher export demand.

• Gunvor and Litasco sold 8,000 metric tons of Eurobob E5 on barges to Shell and Varo.

• No barges of Eurobob E10 traded.

• Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped by more than 5% on the week to 1.2 million tons on steady exports to the U.S. and Canada, while imports slowed down, data from Insight Global showed.

• EU and UK diesel imports reached 1.07 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, up sharply from 832,000 bpd in March, and their highest since November, Kpler data showed. Exports to West Africa in April rose 75% on the previous month to 348,000 bpd, while exports to the U.S. East Coast rose 46% to 197,000 bpd, the data showed. Exports to Latin America, however, dropped by 25% to 154,000 bpd.