Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline refining margins edge higher as US stocks fall

LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins rose slightly on the day to $12.56 per barrel on Wednesday, as U.S. gasoline inventories fell last week, according to Energy Information Administration data.

• A total of 6,000 tons of summer grade and 6,000 tons of winter grade Eurobob E10 barges traded on Wednesday. BP and Phillips 66 sold E10 barges, while Van Raak, Equinor and Trafigura were on the buy side.

• An additional 3,000 tons of winter E5 gasoline barges and 4,000 tons of summer E5 barges traded in the session, with BP and TotalEnergies selling to Varo, Gunvor, MB Energy and TotalEnergies.

• U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 2.6 million barrels in the week to 241.4 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.1 million barrels.

• The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it will issue a waiver expanding sales of gasoline blends with 15%ethanol, or E15, to combat higher pump prices since the start of the war on Iran.

• Valero Energy Corp is preparing to restart its 380,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, oil refinery this week after shutting the plant on Tuesday following an explosion and fire the previous day, two people familiar with operations said.

• Austria's lower house of parliament approved draft legislation on Wednesday to pave the way for measures to counter rising petrol prices sparked by the war in the Middle East.

• EU-27 and UK gasoline and component exports to other regions have averaged 773,000 bpd so far in March, Kpler data shows, compared with an average of 852,000 bpd in the whole of February.