Crude Surge Crushes NW Europe Gasoline Margins to $20.58/bbl
Northwest European gasoline refinery margins plunged $3.64 to $20.58 per barrel on June 1 after crude oil prices jumped more than $6/bbl. The spike followed reports that Iran halted message exchanges with the U.S. and renewed threats to block the Strait of Hormuz. Equinor and Trafigura sold roughly 8,000 tonnes of E5 gasoline to Shell as profitability collapsed. Earlier the same day, Saudi Aramco raised June LPG OSPs while Algeria’s Sonatrach cut prices sharply, widening regional differentials. EU-27 plus UK gasoline exports also fell to 811,000 bpd in March from 954,000 bpd in April.