Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Cracks gain despite U.S. stocks build

LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe strengthened on Wednesday despite a bigger than expected increase in U.S. inventories last week.

* U.S. gasoline stocks rose last week by 2.0 million barrels, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a gain of 178,000 barrels, according to EIA data.

* Gasoline exports from the region have significantly slowed down this week after a wave of new tanker bookings followed a major outage on the Colonial Pipeline in the United States earlier this month.

* Low water levels along the Rhine River limited barge traffic, further dampening demand.

* Seasonal refinery maintenance is expected to lower regional output and help reduce stocks, which have steadily declined in recent weeks, traders said.

* The chief executive of Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, said on Wednesday he did not see the global oil market tightening before 2018.

GASOLINE

* Gunvor sold to Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) one barge of benchmark Eurobob traded at $465 a tonne fob ARA, down from $458 a tonne.

* Some 8,000 tonnes of winter gasoline traded earlier in the day at $470-$481 a tonne ARA, compared with $460-$474 a tonne on Tuesday. Shell, Gunvor and NIC (NasdaqGS: EGOV - news) sold to Finco, Gunvor and Trafigura.

* There were no trades for barge of premium unleaded but an offer surfaced at $475 a tonne fob ARA.

* The October swap stood at $463 a tonne at the close, up from $457.50 a tonne.

* Gasoline barge refining margins edged higher to $10.1 a barrel from $9.1 a barrel on Tuesday.

* Brent crude oil futures were up 23 cents a barrel at $46.20 by 1540 GMT.

* U.S. October RBOB gasoline futures were up 0.95 percent at 1.4070 a gallon.

* The U.S. gasoline crack (RB-CL1=R) was trading at $12.91 a barrel, up from $12.49 a barrel.

NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE)

* No cargoes traded.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso)