Europe Distillates-Supply crunch pushes jet to 4 year high

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Middle distillate oil product
refinery margins rose on Wednesday, pushed higher by a crunch in
supply on both sides of the Atlantic while demand from the
Middle East was also supportive.
Jet fuel barge differentials hit their highest since 2008.
Maintenance in Europe and unplanned outages in the United
States have seen the premium for all oil products gain
substantially, with gasoline reaching four year peaks.
However some traders think that gasoil has more potential to
gain further in coming weeks due to seasonal demand.
"Currently gasoil demand is still low as euro denominated
gasoil is sky-high and inland German buying is muted due to
holidays," a trader said. "This will change in mid September."
The high crude price added to firm refining margins is
pushing prices at the pump higher and towards the top of the
political agenda.
Britain's consumer affairs watchdog is looking into petrol
pump pricing in a sign that authorities are becoming
increasingly worried about near record high fuel costs in a
country grappling with economic recession.
Traders said that margins were more elevated in northern
Europe than in the Mediterranean, in part because Ras Lanuf in
Libya is coming back on line.

GASOIL
* Six gasoil barges traded in the window, all at discounts
of $2 a tonne fob ARA, a bit stronger than the $3 a tonne
discount the previous day and $4 on Monday.
* As in previous sessions, Shell was the only buyer, buying
from Vitol and PetroIneos, Litasco, North Sea Group and Gunvor.
* September ICE gasoil futures were down 1.65
percent at $981.50 a tonne at 1547 GMT.
* The ICE gasoil crack LGO-LCO1=R was at $18.09 a barrel,
below the previous close at $19.61 a barrel.
* The front of the ICE gasoil curve LGO-1=R was flat,
compared to in a backwardation of 50 cents a tonne the previous
day.

DIESEL ULSD10-BD-ARA
* Five barges changed hands at September ICE gasoil futures
plus $35 a tonne fob ARA, up from the $32-$33 a tonne range the
previous day.
* Shell, Vitol and Litasco sold to Morgan Stanley and Total.
* No barges of 50 ppm gasoil traded but the last bid was at
$19 a tonne over September ICE futures compared with the trade
at $18 a tonne over on Tuesday.

JET FUEL JET-BD-ARA
* Statoil bought 4,000 tonnes from BP at $96 a tonne over
October ICE gasoil futures. This was around $2-$4 a tonne over
the bids and offers the previous day.
* Vitol sold two cargoes to BP. One went for ICE September
gasoil futures plus $104 a tonne. The other went at flat to CCM.

FUEL OIL
* Barges of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) with 1 percent
sulphur content were traded at $711 a tonne fob ARA, compared to
the $716-$725 a tonne discussed the previous day. ob ARA, in the
region of Monday's $720 a ob ARA trade.
* Barges of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) with 3.5 percent
sulphur content traded at $646.50-$647.25 a tonne, down from the
$655-$656.50 a tonne the previous day.

(Reporting by Simon Falush, editing by William Hardy)