By Bill Murray
July 24, 2007
SourceJuly 24 (Bloomberg) -- European gasoil for immediate delivery fell for a third day on expectations that refineries in the U.S. will boost production.
Refineries in the U.S. operated at 91.6 percent of capacity last week, up 0.6 percentage point from the week before, according to a survey of 13 analysts by Bloomberg. The increase follows higher fuel production in Europe, where plants in the U.K., Spain, Belgium and Italy returned to full service after maintenance.
Gasoil for immediate delivery in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam- Antwerp area fell $4.25, or 0.7 percent, to $643.75 a metric ton at 10:06 p.m. in London, according to energy broker PVM. It's the first three-day fall since late May.
Gasoil for delivery in August fell $2.75, or 0.4 percent, to $643.50 in London on the Intercontinental Exchange. Gasoil is the European equivalent of heating oil.
Jet fuel lost $1.50 to $712 a ton. The price of ultra-low- sulfur diesel, a car and truck fuel, was down $3.50 to $670 a ton for delivery in Germany.
The cracking margin for dated Brent crude from the North Sea, the benchmark used to price nearly two-thirds of the world's oil, fell to minus $4.23 a barrel today, the lowest level since January 2006.
The lack of profit has caused some European refineries to cut refining runs at units that can only process the most expensive crude blends.
To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Murray in London at
wmurray1@bloomberg.netLast Updated: July 24, 2007 06:16 EDT