Europe Distillates/Fuel Oil-Gas oil erases discounts

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Spot differentials on physical gas
oil in Europe rose to parity to benchmark ICE gas oil futures on
Monday for the first time since mid-October, supported by
extended refinery shutdowns at refineries and the cold weather
in the northwest region.

Still, the forward curve of ICE gas oil futures weakened due
to an expected increase in floating storage volume and as slow
demand in the U.S. Northeast was likely to keep the
trans-Atlantic window limited.

For refinery maintenance and run cuts, click
[REF/E][REF/OUT]

GAS OIL

* Barges of gas oil with 0.1 percent sulphur traded at
parity to November ICE gas oil futures and a $1 discount to the
benchmark. On Friday, they traded at discounts of $4/$5.50.

* The differentials improved from a $14 discount on Monday,
the lowest since June.

* But swaps for gas oil barges fell about $1 for November
and December to benchmark minus $8/$9 and minus $9.25/$10.00,
respectively.

* A cargo of 0.1 percent gas oil traded at December futures
plus $2.50 a tonne cif NWE.

* In the Mediterranean, gas oil with 0.2 percent sulphur was
offered at a $4.5 discount a tonne cif to December futures.

RHINE WATER LEVEL [ID:nL9409781] PSRO

* Water levels on the Rhine and Danube remain low and ships
can sail only partly loaded on the German sections of both
rivers, traders said on Monday.

ICE GAS OIL

* Benchmark November ICE gas oil rose 3.9 percent to $631.00
a tonne by 1839 GMT. Brent crude was trading 3.1 percent higher
at $78.23 a barrel. LGOc1 LCOc1 NEWOILOIL

* Gas oil's crack to Brent was at $7.23/$7.98 a barrel. On
Friday, it closed at $7.64, the weakest since mid-September for
a market close. LGO-LCO1=R The prompt contango was $7/$13 a
tonne from $9.50 at the close.

GERMAN CONSUMER HEATING STOCKS [PROD/DE]

* German residential heating oil stocks were 68 percent of
capacity on Nov. 1, unchanged from the level on Oct. 1.

DIESEL

* Differentials on 10ppm diesel barges firmed by about $1
from Friday to trade at premiums of $14 and $15 a tonne fob ARA.

* The French winter spec traded at November plus $20 a tonne
cif NWE, up $2 from Friday's offer level.

JET FUEL

* Cargo differentials rose about $4 to trade at December
plus $45 a tonne cif NWE. Barges traded at November plus $55 a
tonne fob and December plus $49.

* Swaps were little changed at $48.50 a tonne cif for the
balance of November. December rose $1 to parity to November.

FUEL OIL <EURO/DIFF/FO>

* High sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) barges with 3.5 percent
sulphur traded at $449-$453 a tonne fob ARA, inching up from
$442-$445 on Friday.

* HSFO's crack to dated Brent widened to minus $6.15 a
barrel from minus $5.50 on Friday. Despite the dip, the crack
has recovered from minus $9.20 in mid-October, due mainly to
extended maintenance shutdowns at some European refineries.

* Traders also said bunker demand from Northwest Europe and
the Mediterranean remained relatively steady, offsetting the
pressure from the closed arbitrage to Asia.

* At least one ship was expected to ship straight run high
sulphur fuel oil to the United States. Activities on Russian
M-100 was limited.

MIDDLE EAST

* Fundamentals from the Middle East were mixed. Saudi Aramco
offered two cargoes of 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for
late-November lifting from Jubail. [ID:nSIN437667]

* Some traders said Saudi Arabia would limit long-term
arbitrage opportunities for European traders to export fuel oil
to Asia. Fuel oil exports from the kingdom might remain high as
it is likely to run crude oil at its domestic refineries to
offset export curves on crude oil, exporting fuel oil.

* On the supportive side, Iran is expected to cease spot
exports from November to March to meet domestic demand for power
generation during winter. [ID:nL9403931]

(Reporting by Ikuko Kurahone)