US Cash Products-Growing stocks swamp Chicago gasoline

* Chicago ULSD is steady as stocks decline

* Gulf Coast distillates fall; gasoline starts a new cycle

* New York Harbor heating oil, ULSD seek buyers

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Chicago cash gasoline market extended the week's declines on Wednesday, while ultra-low sulfur diesel differentials held steady, traders said.

The differential for Chicago cycle 2 gasoline slipped by 6 cents per gallon to 30.00/28.00 cents under March RBOB futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The drop brought this week's declines to 14.50 cents in part on the restart of a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit at BP Plc's 405,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, the largest plant in the Midwest.

The plunge has far surpassed last Friday's rally of 5.50 cents on news of the outage. The unit restarted over the weekend.

The drop also came as the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory data showed gasoline stocks in the Midwest region rose by 426,000 barrels last week.

Chicago ULSD differentials climbed a penny early on Wednesday, but ended the day unchanged from Tuesday's levels at 23.00/21.00 cents under March NYMEX heating oil futures after the same data showed Midwest distillate stocks fell by 245,000 barrels.

The Group Three gasoline differential fell by half a cent to 15.00/14.50 cents under, while Group Three ULSD was a quarter cent weaker at 6.75 cents under.

On the Gulf Coast, M4 conventional gasoline was seen done at 2.75 and 3.00 cents under as traders focused on a new five-day lifting cycle.

Later in the day, that M4 differential had partially rebounded, ending at 1.65 cents under in the well-supplied region, traders said. The EIA said Gulf Coast gasoline stocks gained 1 million barrels last week, driving an overall increase of 1.6 million barrels to 231.77 million barrels in U.S. gasoline stocks.

On Tuesday, differentials surged by more than 5.00 cents to a 1.25 cent-per-gallon premium to the screen as traders sought to close out short positions prior to the previous cycle's scheduling deadline on the Colonial Pipeline.

Gulf Coast distillates were steady to lower early on Wednesday, but ULSD and heating oil differentials later fell sharply after the EIA said Gulf distillate stocks gained 1.8 million barrels last week. The hike drove a 1.17 million-barrel jump in U.S. distillate inventories.

ULSD was seen done at 4.40, 4.50 and 5.25 cents under, down 1.50 cents. Heating oil ended the day down by the same amount with deals seen at 6.00, 6.20, 6.45 and 6.70 cents under, traders said.

The EIA also said on Wednesday that Gulf Coast gasoline stocks gained 1 million barrels last week, which drove an overall increase of 1.6 million barrels to 231.77 million barrels in U.S. gasoline stocks.

U.S. refinery utilization climbed 1 percentage point to 82.8 percent last week, boosted in part by utilization increases in the East Coast and Gulf Coast, the EIA data showed.

East Coast utilization rose by 3 percentage points to 55.8 percent, reflecting the restart of a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit at ConocoPhillips' 238,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey.

The East Coast distillate markets were better offered than bid on Wednesday, traders said. Sellers had to be aggressive to get business done as buyers were in little hurry to step up.

Prompt heating oil was offered at 0.50 cent over and notionally bid at flat to the screen, down 0.75 cent from Tuesday.

Prompt ULSD was offered at 1.50 cents over and bid at 1.00 cent over, down a quarter cent. Even jet fuel slipped, with offers seen at 4.75 cents over, against bids at 4.25 cents over, down a half cent.

Growing regional supplies and dismal demand kept a lid on upward price moves in the Harbor gasoline market, with differentials mostly steady on the day, traders said.

Gulf Coast utilization rose by 1.8 percentage points to 84.7 percent, reflecting the restart of a crude unit after a turnaround at Citgo Petroleum Corp's 163,000 bpd refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Midwest refinery utilization fell by 1.4 percentage points to 91.8 percent, reflecting the FCC shutdown at BP's Whiting, Indiana refinery. The unit restarted over the weekend.

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U.S. GULF COAST

Newly prompt Cycle 10 M4 conventional gasoline was seen done early at 2.75 and 3.00 cents under March RBOB futures, but later rose to end the day at 1.65 cents under.

Newly prompt Cycle 9 61-grade ultra-low sulfur diesel was seen done early at 3.50 cents under the March heating oil contract, but ended the day down 1.50 cents with deals done at 4.40, 4.50 and 5.25 cents under.

Cycle 9 54-grade jet fuel was flat to the screen, down 0.75 cent.

Scheduling Cycle 9 heating oil fell 1.50 cents to trade at 6.00, 6.20, 6.45 and 6.70 cents under.

NEW YORK HARBOR

Prompt heating oil was pegged at either side of 0.25 cent over, down 0.75 cent from Tuesday's settlement, while any-February barrels were talked modestly weaker at flat to 0.50 cent over.

Prompt and any-February low-sulfur diesel were talked at flat to 0.50 cent over, as well, down 0.75 cent.

Prompt ULSD was offered at 1.50 cents over, seeking buyers, which were notionally placed at 1.00 cent over.

Prompt and any-February jet fuel were called 4.25/4.75 cents over, down a half cent, with a prompt deal reported done at 3.40 cents over.

February kerosene was talked at either side of 13.00 cents over, unchanged.

Prompt F5 RBOB was pegged at 1.50/1.00 cent under, down a quarter cent. F5 RBOB loading by Feb. 20 was offered at 1.25 cents under, seeking buyers.

Any-February F5 RBOB were called 1.50/1.00 cents under, unchanged.

Ratable March F4 RBOB was talked at 14.75/14.25 cents under April RBOB futures, while ratable April F2 RBOB was pegged at 0.50/0.85 cent over May RBOB futures.

Ratable June F2 RBOB was talked at either side of 2.50 cents over July RBOB futures.

Prompt M4 conventional gasoline was pegged at 1.75/2.25 cents over, unchanged, while any-February barrels were called 1.25/1.75 cents over, down a quarter cent.

MIDWEST

Chicago cycle 2 gasoline fell 6 cents to 30.00/28.00 cents under, while Chicago ULSD gained a penny to 22.00/20.00 cents under.

Group Three gasoline slipped half a cent to 15.00/14.50 under, while Group Three ULSD fell a quarter cent to 7.00/6.50 cents under.