Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline refining margins rise on lower crude futures

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins rose by more than $2 to about $7.98 a barrel on Tuesday, amid a sharp fall in underlying crude prices.

• About 14,000 metric tons of E5 gasoline barges traded in the Argus window, with ExxonMobil and Sahara selling to Trafigura, MB Energy and Shell.

• Another 4,000 metric tons of E10 gasoline barges traded in the Argus window, with Trafigura selling to Van Raak and Shell.

• Oil prices plummeted by more than $10 a barrel on Tuesday after soaring to an almost four-year high in the previous session as U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon, lowering expectations of prolonged disruptions to oil supply.

• G7 energy ministers stopped short of agreeing on a release of strategic oil reserves on Tuesday and instead asked the International Energy Agency to assess the situation before acting.

• Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC has shut its Ruwais refinery in response to a fire at a facility within the complex following a drone strike, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, marking the latest energy infrastructure disruption due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

• Nearly 1.9 million barrels per day of crude refining capacity in the Gulf has been shut in due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, consultancy IIR said on Tuesday.

• EU-27 and UK gasoline and blending component exports to other regions have averaged 314,000 barrels per day in March, against about 841,000 bpd in February.