Naphtha in Europe slips as U.S. capacity comes back

18-Oct-12

Gasoline cracks fell, stuck at around seven-month lows on Tuesday, as demand from USA fell due to recovering refining capacity and a return to focus on weak demand in Europe, as per Reuters. Off-line refining capacity was seen falling to 1.5 mln bpd of capacity in USA for the week ending Oct. 19, down from 1.59 million bpd a week earlier, data from research company IIR showed on Monday. "U.S. Gulf Coast refining capacity has returned and stocks have been building," a trader said. "The arbitrage to New York harbour has reduced the import requirements from Europe." Demand in Europe looks to be weak too. Gasoline consumption figures show a drop of 10% on the month in September and 18% on the year.