Northwest Europe gasoline crack swaps fell sharply at Tuesday's European close following a drop in NYMEX RBOB futures.
Platts assessed the March Eurobob crack swap at $13.50/barrel Tuesday, down from Monday's $14.70/b and the lowest since February 13 when it was assessed at $13.40/b.
The front- and second-month NYMEX RBOB contracts both fell sharply Tuesday, with the March contract settling 7.95 cents lower at $2.9816/gal, while April RBOB fell to $3.1988/gal, down 6.48 cents.
RBOB futures had been rising steadily since the middle of last month on concerns about tight supply, but with clear signals that the tightness has eased the front-month contract has now fallen five out of the last six trading days, losing a cumulative 15.29 cents/gal from $3.1345/gal on February 15.
American Petroleum Institute data released Tuesday showed a build of 1.5 million barrels in US Atlantic Coast gasoline stocks to 60.401 million barrels for the week ending February 22.
The drop in gasoline crack swaps and a fall in Brent crude Tuesday also weighed on physical prices.
At Tuesday's European close, the Eurobob gasoline market was seen at $1,047.25/mt, marking a low since January 28.
Additionally, the fall in the Eurobob price narrowed its premium to CIF Northwest Europe naphtha cargoes to $64.25/mt, the lowest since January 22, Platts data shows.
