European gasoline prices hit record $548/mt, exports to US rise

London (Platts)--1Apr2005

European gasoline prices hit an all-time high of $548/mt Friday as demand
surged in Northwest Europe, in the Mediterranean and for exports to the US
East Coast, trading sources said. 

Gasoline prices have now consolidated above the $500/mt mark for a whole
trading week for the first time. "The psychology has changed and everyone has
become very bullish," said one trader who deals in cargoes for Europe and for
New York Harbor. "It's also to do with the direction of crude and the higher
prices being paid for gasoline in the US," he added. With the US reporting
successive draws on gasoline stockpiles, European exports have been rising.
During March around 3.5-mil mt of gasoline was shipped to the US East Coast,
various trading sources said, compared with 2.9-mil mt in February, a rise of
almost 25% month-on-month. The exports to the US in March amounted to almost
100 tankers, or more than three a day compared with just over one tanker a day
that was the daily average in 2004.

This story was originally published in Platts Global Alert
http://www.globalalert.platts.com

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