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German oil product demand lags on higher prices

  • Spanish Market: Oil products
  • 08/09/25

Demand for heating oil and road fuels decreased in the past week as prices rose.

Gasoline loadings as reported to Argus were down by 26pc on the week in the week ending on 7 September. Diesel loadings fell by about 10pc.

Buyers were reluctant to place orders after diesel prices rose by almost €2/100l ($2.34/100l) and gasoline prices by more than €3/100l from Monday to Wednesday.

Suppliers raised their prices because Ice gasoil futures rose on tighter international supply. Reduced Russian gasoil exports following Ukraine's attacks on the country's refining sector and the planned closure of Shell's 404,000 b/d Pernis refinery from mid-September until the end of November supported futures prices.

Demand in Germany remains lower overall while domestic refineries are producing enough product to satisfy the market. This has led to German oil product prices detaching from developments in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) recently.

Heating oil also fell on the week, albeit only marginally. Demand for heating oil was already lower in the past few weeks as end-users are still sitting on unusually high inventories after stocking up heavily in March-June.

Privately-owned heating oil tanks were filled to about 59.4pc on 4 September in the national average, up by almost two percentage points compared with 2024, Argus MDX data shows.

Imports into Germany, meanwhile, remain unprofitable as a result of the falling premium from German oil product prices to international prices. Margins for imports from the ARA hub to Germany via the river Rhine have been negative since the beginning of August and continue to fall.

Imports into Germany have fallen as a result, both via the Rhine and the northern German ports, continuing this year's trend of reduced imports. Oil product imports into Germany fell by about a fifth in the first half of 2025 compared with the second half of 2024.


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