Europe's gasoline cracks steady after Wednesday's fall

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Refining margins for gasoline in north Europe Thursday maintained prior day losses following the release of the US government's weekly oil report that showed a 4 million barrel-build in gasoline stocks and a slight fall in implied demand, Quantum data shows.

Crack values versus Brent futures for premium unleaded gasoline barges loading in Rotterdam were hovering just above $11/bbl at 1630 UK time Thursday, down slightly from Wednesday at the same time.

Tuesday's crack value was already showing signs of strain, dropping to around $11.50/bbl to sharply reverse a rally that had seen crack values double from around $6.4/bbl on March 22 to $12.8/bbl on March 31, partly boosted by the blocking of the Suez Canal during that period.

However, Rotterdam's premium unleaded gasoline crack, a rough measure of refining profitability, was still higher Thursday than levels seen on March 24.

The build in US gasoline stocks was accompanied by a dip in finished gasoline supplies, or implied demand, to 8.78 million b/d over the week to April 2, down from 8.9 million b/d a week earlier.