Europe Gasoline-Up on Africa demand; inventories weigh

LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - European gasoline prices inched
up on Thursday, with support coming from an expected increase in
demand from Nigeria.

But downward pressure came from rising inventories on both
sides of the Atlantic. An analyst said gasoline inventories in
independent storage in Northwest Europe rose, following two sets
of U.S. data showing increases in U.S. gasoline inventories.

PRICES

* Premium unleaded 10ppm gasoline barges traded between $690
and $696 a tonne fob ARA, after opening at $702-$705.

* On Wednesday, the barges traded at $688-$694.

* Trade volume fell to around 16,000 tonnes from around
26,000 tonnes on Wednesday.

* The crack to dated Brent BFO- held steady at $12 a
barrel.

* Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were trading 3 cents up at
$70.89 a barrel by 1637 GMT.

* In the United States, New York RBOB gasoline futures
RBc1 fell 0.5 percent to $2.0221 a gallon.

SWAPS

* Gasoline swaps rose marginally to $693.00 a tonne for the
balance of June and $680.50 for July, with the backwardation to
August narrowing to around $10.25 from $11.50.

* Cracks were $8.45 a barrel for the third quarter and $2.45
for the fourth quarter.

NAPHTHA

* Naphtha prices fell slightly. A cargo traded at $584 a
tonne cif NWE, down from Wednesday's bid and offer levels around
$585 to $590 a tonne.

* Naphtha swaps were minus $6.30 a barrel for July on a
crack basis and minus $6.90 for August.

INVENTORIES

* Gasoline inventory held at the ARA independent tanks rose
to 706,000 tonnes over the past week, nearing a level hit a year
earlier, due to a slow pick up in summer holiday demand, Dutch
oil analyst Pieter Kulsen said.

* The data followed a U.S. government report, which showed a
larger than expected increase in U.S. gasoline inventories
(EIA/S].
(Reporting by Ikuko Kao, editing by Anthony Barker)