Europe oil/products: Cracks for oil products, led by gasoline, crash lower

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - After a volatile day, Brent headed north in the afternoon UK time after news broke of a record high in US job openings in April and also a sharp increase in US crude exports, but cracks for oil products generally crashed lower.

Job openings in the US set a new record of 9.3 million in April, far above the 8.3 million figure in March.

US Census Bureau export data also showed April crude exports were up 24% in April from March.

The news triggered a rally in crude futures after earlier losses.

By 1630 UK time, Brent was trading at $71.72/b, up $0.45/b from the same time Monday.

But cracks for oil products failed to follow the crude gains at the front of the curve, and gasoline E5 barge cracks saw heavy losses, extending losses this month.  

Low Sulfur Gasoil futures were little changed in price, depressing cracks for middle distillates.