Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Cracks gain on lower crude, overseas demand

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe firmed on Monday as crude futures fell nearly 3 percent and demand for European cargoes from other regions supported.

* Strong buying Brazil, Mexico and Latin America has been giving gasoline margins a floor.

* Refinery turnarounds in the Middle East and Asia have also led to increased demand for cargoes from Europe to go to those regions.

* Asia is likely to receive between 1 million and 1.3 million tonnes of naphtha in December from the West, including Europe and the Mediterranean, up by at least 25 percent from November, but down from around 2 million tonnes in Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 2015, traders said.

* The east-west naphtha spread, which measures the price difference between Japanese and European naphtha benchmarks, was at a premium of $11.25 a tonne on Monday. The price has rebounded from an almost four-year low of a discount of 75 cents a tonne on Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) . 7.

* Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC - news) has launched a tender to buy up to 3.96 million barrels of diluent naphtha next year, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday.

* The firm typically imports spot cargoes of diluent naphtha through the open market to mix it with its heavy crude oil output. But this time it opted to request the full volume needed for next year in a single tender.

* Varo Energy said it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Inter Oil B.V., the holding company of retail and wholesale businesses operating under the brand names "Brand Oil" and "Amigo" in the Netherlands.

GASOLINE

* Gunvor sold to Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) one barge of benchmark Eurobob gasoline in the afternoon trading window at $426 a tonne fob ARA, down from $434 a tonne on Friday.

* Earlier in the day, 8,000 tonnes of benchmark gasoline traded at between $427-$436 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, down from $441-$445 a tonne on Friday.

* Gunvor sold to Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) a barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $439 a tonne fob ARA, down from $447-$448.50 a tonne during the previous session.

* The December swap stood at around $426 a tonne at the close, down from $432.50 a tonne on Friday.

* Gasoline barge refining margins rose to $10.13 a barrel from $9.76 a barrel.

* U.S. December RBOB gasoline futures were trading 2.44 percent lower at $1.2735 a gallon at 1643 GMT.

* The U.S. gasoline crack (RBC1-CLC1) traded at $11.19 a barrel, down from $11.65 a barrel on Friday.

NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE)

* No trades were reported.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar)