Gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell 1.5% in the week to Thursday to their lowest since late December, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Barge loading congestion in northwestern Europe continues into its third week, said Insights Global’s Bianca Stoiciu, increasing floating storage of products and throttling the number of available barges at a time when low water levels on the Rhine also mean vessels cannot fully load.

Gasoline stockpiles decreased 2.2% with transatlantic voyages picking up in addition to higher demand up the Rhine for the summer season, said Stoiciu.

Naphtha stockpiles rose 13.2% amid slow blending activity and weak demand along the Rhine with naphtha prices staying elevated, Stoiciu said, also pointing to high imports including, unusually, from West Africa.

Gasoil stockpiles were down 1.5%, hitting a fresh 6.5-month low as strong imports were outweighed by bigger exports.

The Singapore arbitrage for fuel oil Singapore appears to have closed, shutting off profitable exports, Stoiciu said.

Jet fuel stockpiles were down 2.7%, hitting their lowest since late March, as a lack of imports compounded strong seasonal demand drawing the fuel.

Source: Reuters reported by Shadia Nasralla and edited by Shilpi Majumdar