Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Cracks ease, exports support

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 6 (Reuters) - Gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe fell on Tuesday, but losses were capped by overseas demand for cargoes from the U.S. East Coast and West Africa.

* A strong rally in U.S. prices last week has prompted demand to move gasoline cargoes from Europe to the U.S. East Coast, according to traders and recent shipping reports.

* Shipping reports also show interest in moving gasoline to West Africa from Europe, with several cargoes booked this week.

* Interest in shipping gasoline from the Mediterranean region to the Middle East, however, has ebbed as refineries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are expected to return from maintenance later this month.

* Dutch union FNV said it plans to reduce output by around 40 percent at Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) 's 404,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands on Thursday as talks over pay falter.

* Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) has started the shutdown of crude oil refining at its 153,000-bpd La Mede refinery in the south of France ahead of its conversion into a biorefinery, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

* Irving Oil has begun restarting its 70,000-bpd gasoline-making unit at its Saint John refinery in Canada following three weeks of unplanned work, according to a source familiar with the plant's operations.

GASOLINE

* Gunvor sold to Shell one barge of benchmark Eurobob gasoline at $504 a tonne fob ARA, down from $511 a tonne on Monday.

* Elsewhere during the day, 8,000 tonnes of gasoline traded at $500-$509 a tonne fob ARA, down from $513-$515.50 a tonne the previous session.

* The January swap stood at $508 a tonne at the close, down from $514 a tonne.

* Gunvor sold to Total one barge of premium unleaded gasoline at $518 a tonne fob ARA, down from $528 a tonne.

* Gasoline barge refining margins fell to $7.66 a barrel from $8 a barrel.

* U.S. December RBOB gasoline futures were trading 1.28 percent lower at 1.5375 a gallon by 1738 GMT.

* The U.S. gasoline crack (RBC1-CLC1) traded at $13.84 a barrel, up from $13.33 a barrel.

NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE)

* No naphtha cargoes traded. Bid and offer discussions emerged at $452-$454 a tonne cif NWE.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Amanda Cooper)