Europe Gasoline-Prices inch higher but cracks dip below $7

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Gasoline barge prices edged higher
on Wednesday but gains were minor relative to crude, and cracks
fell below $7 a barrel due to dim arbitrage prospects for
November.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 300,000 barrels versus
expectations for a 300,000 barrel build but the 4 million barrel
drop in U.S. crude oil inventories was more suprising, brokers
said. [EIA/S]

"The gasoline movement was minimal compared to crude which
tends to mean cracks come down," said a broker.

The arbitrage window for November was barely open and the
swap in question fell to just 10 cents from 50 cents on Tuesday.

GASOLINE PRICES

* Barges of benchmark 10 ppm premium unleaded winter
gasoline PU-10PP-ARA rose to trade between $709-$712 a tonne
fob ARA from $700-$705 at Tuesday's close.

* But gains were dwarfed by those on crude oil and crack
spreads in both U.S. and European markets came under pressure.

* Eurograde's gasoline crack to dated Brent BFO- fell to
$6.27 a barrel from $7.85 a barrel at the previous close.

* U.S. RBOB gasoline's RBc1 crack to dated Brent fell to
$3.99 a barrel by 1805 GMT from Tuesday's close of $4.42 a
barrel.

SWAPS

* The backwardation between November and December gasoline
swaps fell to $2 from $6 a tonne on Tuesday, with the balance of
the month at $701 a tonne.

* December/January intermonth spreads were unchanged at $8
and remained in contango.

NAPHTHA

* Shell bid for a naphtha cargo up to $659 a tonne cif NWE
but nothing was heard done.

* This left spot prices around $10 higher day-on-day.

* But overall, naphtha fundamentals were still bearish with
the arbitrage to both the United States and Asia still shut.

* Naphtha swaps for November/December flipped back to a $1
contango, reflecting ample supplies.

* Naphtha cracks fell across the curve and the 2010 swap
fell to minus $6.55 a barrel from minus $6.25 on Tuesday.

* Traders said news that Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries
Company started operations at its aromatics plant this week
would weigh on European naphtha prices next year. [ID:nL300450]

(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Keiron Henderson)