Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline refining profit margins edge lower on ARA stocks

LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins fell by about 53 cents to $9.85 a barrel on Thursday, as ARA inventories rose.

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

• Another 10,000 tons of Eurobob E10 gasoline barges traded in the session, as TotalEnergies and BP were on the sell side, and Varo was the only buyer.

• Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by 10% on the week to 1.22 million metric tons, their highest since October 2, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed on Thursday.

• Gasoline stocks rose against a backdrop of slow exports to the U.S. and West Africa, while increasing blending margins has seen an increase of in-tank blending activity, Insights Global's Lars van Wageningen said.

• Meanwhile, EU-27 and UK gasoline exports to other regions have averaged 556,000 barrels per day so far this month down from 868,000 bpd across the full month of November.