Naphtha’s discount to Brent crude, Europe’s benchmark, shrank to the smallest price spread in more than four months. Gasoline barges fell. Gasoil traded on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange decreased. The heating fuel’s crack expanded.
Light Products
Naphtha’s discount to Brent decreased to $2.65 a barrel from $2.90 yesterday, according to PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a crude and refined products broker in London. That’s the lowest level since May 10.
Gasoline for immediate loading in Amsterdam-Rotterdam- Antwerp traded from $928 to $933 a metric ton, according to a survey of traders and brokers monitoring the Argus Bulletin Board. That compares with trades yesterday at $937 and $940.
Gunvor Group Ltd. bought 5,000 tons of the 8,000 tons that changed hands. Royal Dutch Shell Plc was the main seller. The trades, typically of 1,000 tons or 2,000 tons, are for Eurobob grade, to which ethanol is added to make finished motor fuel.
Gasoline’s premium to Brent increased to $6.32 a barrel from $6.16 yesterday, according to PVM. That’s the biggest spread since Sept. 8.
Middle Distillates
Gasoil for October dropped 1.2 percent to $896.75 a ton as of 12:16 p.m. London time on the ICE exchange. The November contract fell 1.2 percent to $892.50 a ton. The low-sulfur grade closed yesterday at $916.75 a ton for delivery in January, without trading, according to ICE data on Bloomberg.
Gasoil’s crack, a measure of refining profitability, widened to $15.49 a barrel from $15.25 yesterday, according to ICE data. Front-month Brent rose 0.5 percent to $104.33 a barrel on the ICE exchange.
Refineries
Shell is battling a fire for a second day at its Pulau Bukom refinery in Singapore. The blaze forced the closure of processing units as a safety measure.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nidaa Bakhsh in London at nbakhsh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
