Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline refining profit margins edge lower

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins fell by about 90 cents to $10.24 a barrel on Wednesday, as U.S. inventories rose in the week to December 12 according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

• About 10,000 metric tons of Eurobob E5 gasoline traded on barges as ExxonMobil and Trafigura sold to BP and MB Energy.

• Another 9,000 tons of Eurobob E10 gasoline barges traded in the session, as TotalEnergies and Trafigura were on the sell side, and Trafigura, BP and MB Energy were buyers.

• U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 4.8 million barrels in the week to 225.6 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel build.​

• Rising Russian naphtha exports to Venezuela are at risk after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the Latin America country, market sources said.

• Meanwhile, EU-27 and UK gasoline exports to other regions have averaged 577,000 barrels per day so far this month down from 943,000 bpd across the full month of November.