US Gulf Coast premium gasoline differentials fell Thursday amid thin buying interest, as spot demand for the fuel remained weak despite an upward move in the underlying NYMEX February RBOB futures basis.
The 13.5 RVP premium gasoline was assessed Thursday at NYMEX February RBOB plus 10.25 cents/gal, down 6.75 cents from Wednesday.
A lack of liquidity characterized trading throughout the day but was especially pronounced during afternoon trade, after an offer from Phillips 66 in the Platts Market on Close assessment process met no bids.
Phillips 66 lowered its initial offer from NYMEX plus 17 cents/gal to NYMEX plus 11 cents/gal, but could not raise any interest; as a result the market was assessed down.
The wider oil complex settled higher, led by the NYMEX RBOB contract, which built on gains seen Wednesday in the wake of the weekly inventory from the US Energy Information Administration, to close up 4.7 cents at $2.7684/gal (See story, 2047 GMT).
Conventional gasoline differentials weakened 75 points Thursday, assessed at NYMEX minus 14.75 cents/gal, after a trade at NYMEX minus 15.25 cents/gal, a sale of conventional from Morgan Stanley to Reliance, was omitted for the final assessment as it did not meeting gap criteria.
The fact that the premium gasoline differential fell more than its conventional counterpart, resulted in the price spread between the two grades to narrow to 25 cents, from 32 cents Wednesday.
According to Platts data, that spread is the lowest since the beginning of the year, and has averaged 33.3 cents over the same period.
