Europe gasoline cracks crash lower over week despite Colonial shut down

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Summertime refining margins for gasoline in Europe have crashed lower over the week despite headlines and pictures of panic buying in the US after a cyber-attack shut down the Colonial pipeline, Quantum data shows.

The stoppage caused gasoline shortages and emergency declarations from Virginia to Florida, led two refineries to curb production and had airlines reshuffling some refuelling operations.

The average national gasoline price rose above $3 a gallon, the highest since October 2014, the American Automobile Association said.

But the crack value for June Eurobob barge paper in ARA versus Brent futures peaked at $11.67/b on May 5 before the Colonial pipeline took itself offline on Friday May 7.

The June paper crack value slipped to $11.12/b on Friday and continued to dip lower this week to $10.28/b on Thursday.

Spot prices for Eurobob barges were trading at $3/mt discounts to June paper on Thursday.

Spot trading only switched into backwardation on Monday morning when Eurobob barges opened trading at $4/mt above June paper.

By the end of Monday, the market was trading flat to June paper, and on Tuesday, the market opened trade at a $2/mt discount to June paper.

Premium unleaded gasoline barges in ARA have also softened relative to Brent.

Crack values for the finished grade of gasoline have dropped from $11.30/b on Friday down to $10.25/b on Thursday.

US gasoline stocks have risen every week since March 26, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Stocks have risen 5.7 million barrels between March 26 and May 7, rising from 230.5 barrels to 236.2 million barrels.