Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline refining margins rise as crude falls

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins rose by 69 cents on Thursday, to $7.96 a barrel, after a sharp drop in underlying crude prices.

• About 18,000 metric tons of Eurobob E10 gasoline traded on barges in the Argus window as Gunvor, ExxonMobil and Phillips 66 sold to Shell, Petroineos, Trafigura and Finco.

• An additional 4,000 tons of Eurobob E5 cargoes traded, with Trafigura selling to BP.

• Brent crude prices were down around 4% at just under $64 a barrel by 1832 GMT, as U.S. President Donald Trump said the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, allaying concerns over potential military action against Iran and oil supply disruptions. O/R

• Independently-held gasoline stocks in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp $(ARA)$ rose by nearly 11% to 1.4 million tons in the last week, while naphtha stocks rose by over 18% to 688,000 tons, according to data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

• Lower gasoline blending margins, and strong imports, likely contributed to the rise in naphtha stocks last week, according to Insights Global's Rick Veringmeier.

• U.S. crude and gasoline inventories both rose more than expected last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as refining activity and imports jumped.

• The Trump administration plans to finalise 2026 biofuel blending quotas by early March, keeping them close to its initial proposal while dropping a plan to penalize imports of renewable fuels and feedstocks, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

• Meanwhile, EU-27 and UK gasoline and blending component exports to other regions have averaged 805,000 barrels per day in January so far, compared to 815,000 bpd across the full month of December.

(Reporting by Robert Harvey; Editing by Susan Fenton)

((robert.harvey@thomsonreuters.com))