Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline cracks gain as hurricane spurs demand

LONDON, Oct (Shenzhen: 000069.SZ - news) 7 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline cracks rose to near $12 barrel on Friday as hurricane Matthew battered the southeast of United States and boosted demand for cargoes from Europe.

* The southeast United States is expected to be hit with fuel shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, as the storm barrels toward one of the largest energy-consuming regions in the country.

* Around ten tankers have been booked in recent days to load gasoline in Europe to go on transatlantic journeys, according to shipping data.

* Strong West African demand is also underpinning gasoline margins in Europe.

* Egypt has not received October allocations of petroleum aid from Saudi Arabia, traders told Reuters, forcing its state oil buyer to rapidly increase tenders even amid a severe dollar shortage and growing arrears to oil producers.

* Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) is seeking up to 132,000 tonnes of gasoline for delivery in November, traders say.

GASOLINE

* No trades of benchmark Eurobob gasoline barges emerged during the afternoon window.

* During the day, around 8,000 tonnes traded at $515-$521 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up from $511 a tonne the previous day.

* Rolympus sold six barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $523-$524 a tonne fob ARA. Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) bought all but one which went to Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) .

* The November swap stood at $499 a tonne at the close, up from $495.50 a tonne.

* Gasoline barge refining margins rose to $11.72 a barrel from $10.43 a barrel on Thursday.

* Brent crude oil futures for December delivery were down 40 cents a barrel at $52.11 by 1536 GMT.

* U.S. November RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.68 percent at $1.4876 a gallon.

* The U.S. gasoline crack (RB-CL1=R) was trading at $12.40 a barrel, little changed.

NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE)

* No cargoes traded.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar)