Saudi Arabia buys 3-4 extra gasoline cargoes

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has bought at least three-to-four extra cargoes of gasoline for September-to-November, traders said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia typically imports between 60,000 bpd and 70,000 bpd of gasoline monthly, but traders said it was buying more following maintenance at one of its refineries.

A standard gasoline cargo is 33,000 tonnes, or around 280,000 barrels.

One trader said it was buying between three and four extra cargoes and another trader said it was buying at least five.

Saudi Aramco was not available for comment and details of the trades were sketchy.

One trader said Aramco had paid a mid-single-digit premium a tonne to the Mediterranean spot quote for 91 RON gasoline and $10-$15 premium for 95 RON.

Last week Aramco bought three cargoes of gasoline at the Mediterranean spot gasoline quote plus $15, traders said.

Gasoline markets have struggled against oversupply this summer as cargoes initially destined for Iran were diverted following new rounds of sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union.

Planned and unplanned refinery shutdowns in the Middle East provided a modest boost for gasoline, but still left the market oversupplied, traders said last week.

Outages included a technical hitch at PetroRabigh, a joint venture between state oil giant Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, which forced the shutdown of gasoline and polypropylene production.