OIL PRODUCTS: Oil Products Summary At European Close: Cracks Fall

US gasoline cracks are lower after EIA data showed an unexpected rise in gasoline stocks. Diesel cracks are lower after implied demand fell back towards average levels.  

• US ULSD crack down 0.6$/bbl at 24.79$/bbl
• US gasoline crack down 1.2$/bbl at 26.54$/bbl
• US 321 crack down 1$/bbl at 25.96$/bbl
• EIA data showed gasoline stocks unexpectedly rose by 0.19mbbl driven by an increase in production combined with a drop in implied demand.  PADD 1A gasoline stocks fell to the lowest since Nov. 2023 as refineries ramp up after maintenance. Both imports and exports gained on the week. The four-week average implied gasoline demand held up near the top end of the previous five-year range.
• Distillates stocks fell by 1.11mbbl with an increase in exports and despite a small rise in production and implied demand. The four-week average implied demand fell back towards the five-year average for the time of year.
• US refiners are expected to have just over 1.2mb/d of capacity offline in the week ending May 9, according to IIR data cited by Reuters.
• Venezuela's 310kb/d Cardon refinery restarted its 88kb/d fluid catalytic cracker, according to Reuters sources on May 6.
• HPCL officials said progress at its 9 MTPA Rajasthan Refinery is ramping up and the construction of the facility is nearing completion on its Q1 results call.
• HPCL’s Vizag refinery reached record output last year following the Vizag Residue Upgradation Project (VMRP) according to the companies Q1 call.
• Eneos Corp restarted two crude distillation units at its Kawasaki refinery near Tokyo on May 4 following an unplanned shutdown, a company spokesperson said, cited by Reuters.
• The Skikda refinery in Algeria is currently undergoing a 25-day period maintenance, Sonatrach said in a statement cited by Bloomberg.