US Cash Products-Midwest mogas up on refiner buying

NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - Gasoline differentials in the Midwest market continued to move up on Wednesday on refinery buying, although traders said there is no indication of any plant problems in the region.

Chicago gasoline has jumped 4.50 cents since last Friday on aggressive refinery buying.

Ultra-low sulfur diesel in the New York Harbor market continued to soften as export interest dips, traders said. The trend follows a recent run up on strong exports from both the Gulf and the Harbor, but the fuel has trended lower in both markets in recent days.

"There are more barrels on offer and the U.S. Gulf Coast is cheaper," one Harbor trader said.

U.S. gasoline stocks were up 800,000 barrels to 211.9 million barrels last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration.

The surprise build in gasoline stocks came even as refinery utilization rates decreased 0.4 percent to 85 percent of capacity and U.S. demand inched up 0.3 percent from the same period in 2007 at 9.26 million bpd, the EIA said.

U.S. crude oil futures hit a new high above $123 per barrel on Wednesday, despite an unexpected build in U.S. inventories shown by the EIA report.

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