Independently held gasoline stocks in storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by over 9% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Gasoline stocks reached 1.124 million metric tons, the data showed.

Additional blending demand helped push gasoline stock levels higher, Lars van Wageningen of Insights Global said.

Strong imports of blending components from India and Saudi Arabia helped to offset robust outflows of the product from ARA storage to the U.S., van Wageningen added.

Gasoil inventories fell by nearly 3% to just under 2.2 million tonnes, their lowest in around two months.

A drop-off in gasoil imports caused the stock draw, Insights Global’s van Wageningen said, as well as lower demand for product in inland markets up the Rhine river because of higher prices.

Jet fuel stocks also fell, by around 2.5% to 920,000 tons, as demand starts to pick up for the summer holiday season, he added.

Source: Reuters reported by Robert Harvey in London and edited by Matthew Lewis