Low inventories and the growing demand for gasoline in the US and other main consuming regions are keeping the global market tight and pushing up prices.
The costs of US gasoline production have been inflated by tighter specifications, especially the MTBE ban in California, New York and Connecticut,which has boosted demand for expensive blending components such as alkylates.
The US is having to pay more for its gasoline imports. A large proportion of these is now being supplied from Europe, where stocks are low. Eastern buyers are competing for European supplies as Asian demand grows and China’s gasoline exports fall. High freight costs across the Atlantic have also forced up US gasoline prices.
US refiners have had little chance to rebuild gasoline inventories over the last year and stocks therefore remain well below the normal seasonal range. Forward gasoline stock cover in the US is at critically low levels, restricting refiners’ flexibility to draw supplies from storage and making them more dependent on a steady flow of imports.
