Europe Distillates-Gasoil at 4-month low on crude weakness

Gasoil fell to a four month low on Thursday, tracking a sharp fall in crude prices after the International Energy Agency said it would release 60 million barrels of oil from its reserves.

Brent tumbled as much as $8.49 a barrel in frenzied trading after the IEA's announcement that it would release 2 million barrels a day (bpd) over an initial 30 days to fill the gap in supplies left by the disruption to Libya's output.
Jet fuel stockpiles independently held in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp fell to near 3-year lows this week as summer demand and refinery run cuts took their toll, independent Dutch oil analyst Pieter Kulsen said on Thursday.
Jet fuel was down almost 7 percent to 391,000 tonnes week on the week. The last time it was at these levels was Aug. 21, 2008, when it got down to 393,000 tonnes, Kulsen said, attributing the fall to refinery cuts and the onset of the summer flying season.
Gasoil inventories fell marginally, to 2.803 million tonnes from 2.821 million tonnes last week. Kulsen said diesel demand was not strong enough to fill the gap left by the lack of heating oil demand, Kulsen said.
GASOIL
Some nine barges traded during the window on Wednesday at discounts to July gasoil futures of $1 to $3 a tonne fob ARA, traders said. The discounts narrowed from $1.50-$4 fob ARA on Wednesday and as high as $6 on Tuesday.
BP sold five barges, Hetco three barges, and Petrobras one barge. Noble, Shell, Argus, Glencore and AH Meyer were buyers.
July ICE gasoil futures LGOc1 were down 4.6 percent or $42.50 to $883.50 a tonne by 1608 GMT, heading for their lowest close since February 21.
ICE gasoil cracks LGO-LC01=R bounced slightly to 11.96 from $11.60 a barrel on Wednesday.
The contango for July/August LGO-1=R was at $4.25 a tonne, little changed from Wednesday, while the August/September differential LGO-2=R widened to $4.00 a tonne.
DIESEL
Two barges traded in the window on Thursday, at premiums of $27.50 a tonne fob ARA to July ICE gasoil futures, up slightly from the $25-26 range on Wednesday.
North Sea Group sold both barges, Vitol and Argos were buyers.
JET FUEL
No barges or cargoes traded in the window.
The Jet fuel barges' bid-offer range was at a premium to July ICE gasoil futures of $85-$88 a tonne fob ARA, little changed from the previous session.
FUEL OIL
Barges of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) with 1 percent sulphur content traded at $666 to $679 a tonne fob ARA, in line with Wednesday's price range.
High sulphur fuel oil barges (HSFO), with 3.5 percent sulphur content, traded at $612 to $623 a tonne fob ARA compared with a narrower trading range of $622-$623 a tonne fob ARA on Wednesday.
The crack to physical Brent BFO- was at -$10.50, its widest since November. (Reporting by Simon Falush; editing by James Jukwey)
Source:Reuters