Gasoline, biofuels throughput drop sharply at Barcelona

Gasoline and biofuels throughput at the Spanish Mediterranean port of Barcelona declined in the summer, as a result of trading firms booking longer term storage, which cut available capacity for shorter term transit cargoes.

This added to a wider lack of cargoes as regional refiners cut output as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting movement restrictions. Biofuels in transit dropped to 25,000t in July, down by 69pc on the year, according to port authority data. Over January-July transit cargoes fell to under 250,000t, down by 65pc, with sharp falls since March. Cargoes outside of transit were around 265,000t, down only slightly from 270,000t on the year, as smaller cargoes moved to other Spanish ports and customers in Italy and France.

Total gasoline cargoes dropped to a little under 1.44mn t (55,000 b/d) in January-July, a decline of 37pc on the year, with transit cargoes amounting to 990,000t a fall of 46pc. But in July transit cargoes dropped to 150,000t, a fall of 73pc compared with July 2019.

Diesel traffic has been less affected with 1.7mn t moved in January-July, down by 5pc on the year. Transit cargoes at 900,000t have risen by 17pc, in part as French downstream issues have meant more diesel cargoes have moved from Spain to France.

Oil product storage in the Mediterranean remains close to full, according to tank operators in the region. Larger tanks are either full or contracted, with little to no space available for refiners and trading companies until next year. There is also a strong incentive to keep products stored, with trading firms eyeing higher forward prices. The possibility of a second wave of coronavirus cases is also dampening any demand recovery, particularly in Spain.

By Adam Porter

Barcelona prodcuts throughput '000t