Europe light-end weekly round up: Eurobob barge prices and cracks rise over the week
Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Gasoline prices rallied more than other oil products in Europe over the week, and backwardation jumped from Monday to Friday, buoyed by the arbitrage to the US.
Eurobob E5 barges climbed $7.25/mt week on week $726.75/mt, but that masked the volatility in the market, which saw the value of barges climb $51.75/mt from Monday to Friday after crude crashed on Monday.
Backwardation over that five-day period rose sharply - from just $4/mt above August paper to $10/mt above the front month, in a move that demonstrated the nearby strength.
The rise comes as gasoline stocks, deprived of barge supplies from the Miro refinery, Germany's largest plant, edged lower by around 20,000 mt to 870,000 mt to set another year low from the prior week.
Paper cracks for August jumped from $11.74/b to $13.11/b over the course of the week.
Meanwhile, naphtha remained in wide backwardation throughout the week amid thin stocks and strong demand from the petrochemical industry.
Prices and cracks both rallied through the week.
Stocks of naphtha rose over the week, likely reflecting the closure of the Rhine to the BASF chemical plant, Ludwigshafen Verbund, in Germany.
Naphtha stocks in ARA gained 25,000 mt to around 195,000 mt from a year low on July 15, and in the thinly stocked market were only 20,000 mt down on levels in the same week in 2019, according to Insight Global.
But backwardation between August and September cargo paper widened as prices rallied, and ended Friday at $10.50/mt.
Propane cargo prices ended Friday down $4.50/mt week-on-week, compared to naphtha's rise of $4.25/mt
The price of propane only rose $25/mt over the week, less than other oil products, reflecting the US weekly oil inventory data that showed a sharp rise in US propane stocks of 3.1 million barrels after a drop in US implied demand.
The discount versus naphtha cargoes in northwest Europe widened from -$32.50/mt on Monday to a low of -$51.50/mt on Thursday, and stayed wide at -$51/mt Friday.