Road fuels
Overview
Fuels for road transportation continue to drive the refining industry. But gasoline and diesel use is coming under increasing pressure from the introduction of low-carbon targets around the world.
Global oversupply, new regulatory measures and rapidly increasing competition for export markets are affecting refining margins. The need for accurate insight and data is more critical than ever.
Argus road fuels coverage includes price assessments and key insights into conventional fuels — gasoline, middle distillates and blending components — as well as biofuels, in each key region. Our trusted prices are delivered alongside the latest market-moving news, in-depth analysis, supply and demand dynamics, price forecasts and forward curves data.
Latest road fuels news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global road fuels industry.
European naphtha cracks at six-month low
European naphtha cracks at six-month low
London, 15 January (Argus) — European naphtha cracks against North Sea Dated crude fell to a six-month low in mid-January, pressured by weak gasoline export demand, contango-driven storage economics and uneven petrochemical consumption. Naphtha cif northwest Europe traded at a discount of $8.68/bl to North Sea Dated on 14 January, the widest since July 2025, Argus data show. Cracks have softened despite brief periods of outright price strength earlier in the month, when rising crude values and improved refining economics offered temporary support. But underlying fundamentals have weakened, with limited prompt demand to absorb supply in northwest Europe, market participants said. Gasoline market softness has been a key driver — Eurobob non-oxy export demand has slowed, particularly into west Africa, one of the largest outlets for European gasoline. Regulatory constraints in Nigeria, including delays in import licensing, alongside rising freight costs , have reduced arbitrage viability, participants said. Blending is also seasonally slow in January, further limiting demand for naphtha as a blending component. Contango across the gasoline forward curve has reinforced the pressure, encouraging storage rather than prompt sales . Gasoline stocks have built at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub, reducing the need for fresh blending and weighing on naphtha cracks. European naphtha supply contracted month on month, Opec said in its January Monthly Oil Market Report , while rising gasoline inventories indicate limited pull for naphtha into the blending pool, with product increasingly moving into storage rather than being exported. Petrochemical demand has offered little relief. End-year destocking weighed on naphtha consumption in December, while cracker utilisation recovered only gradually in early January. Naphtha briefly became more competitive against propane at the start of the year, supporting a short-lived increase in cracking activity, particularly in Germany's Rhine region, as northwest European naphtha fell to a discount to propane for the first time since January 2023. That window has since closed. Propane has returned to a discount relative to naphtha, and LPG analysts expect propane's steep forward backwardation to reassert its economic advantage in coming months, limiting any sustained feedstock switching. Although ethylene margins to naphtha have improved, ethylene demand overall remains slow, and operational issues at some European crackers have capped any material increase in naphtha intake. Venezuela has yet to materially tighten the European market. Vitol will load its first naphtha cargo to Venezuela , sourcing around 52,000t from Houston, as recent political developments have stimulated demand for naphtha to dilute the country's heavy crude. Direct naphtha loadings from Europe to Venezuela are not expected because European trading firms would probably require a special licence to export to the region, making an increase in naphtha loadings to the US more likely, a Venezuelan market participant told Argus this week. A 41,000t cargo of European naphtha departed from the Vopak Europoort terminal in Rotterdam for the US Atlantic coast, data from ship tracking platform Kpler show. Naphtha loadings from the ARA hub to the US east coast also rose last week, Rotterdam-based consultancy Insights Global said. Supportive factors for naphtha may emerge later this quarter, but for now remain largely prospective. Upcoming US refinery maintenance is expected to lift demand for imported gasoline, potentially drawing stored naphtha back into the blending pool. US independent refiner Valero reported maintenance on 12 January at its 205,000 b/d refinery in Houston, Texas. Seasonal maintenance in Saudi Arabia supported European gasoline flows into the Middle East in December and may increase in January, according to data from Kpler and Vortexa, helping to provide a floor for northwest European naphtha values. By Jide Tijani Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Mexican Olmeca ULSD sales to Europe could be profitable
Mexican Olmeca ULSD sales to Europe could be profitable
London, 14 January (Argus) — European market participants have considered it profitable this week to ship 10ppm diesel from Pemex's 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery at Dos Bocas in Mexico to Europe, highlighting further commercial opportunities for one of the Atlantic basin's newest refineries. Arbitrage economics have been workable for Pemex to fix road diesel cargoes to Europe on 13-14 January, sources told Argus . One trader said it was a "theoretical" arbitrage, as Pemex previously said refined product sales abroad would be aimed mainly at US, Caribbean and Central American buyers. Olmeca is currently in a ramp-up phase, and the refinery is processing crude above 50pc of nameplate capacity after starting to operate both its refining trains in recent months. The refinery is in a unique position to supply European-compliant road diesel, as it appears to be the sole refinery in Mexico that can produce diesel containing less than 10ppm sulphur. The refinery exported 13 cargoes of 10ppm diesel last month, according to Kpler — a record high — with export volumes of 57,000 b/d. Export levels this month stand at 42,000 b/d. The US and Puerto Rico have been the only signalled destinations for diesel exports since they began in March last year, while the New York Harbour (NYH) region had been the sole destination for exports this month. Mexico rarely exports jet fuel, by contrast, and Pemex is not planning to change this as output is low in proportion to domestic consumption. Olmeca could start to sell 10ppm diesel to Europe in one-two months time once northeast US temperatures rise, according to a European distillates market participant. The sale of Olmeca diesel into the NYH region suggests that the diesel specification on offer from the refinery may have stricter German winter diesel properties given the temperature range in the northeast US, the source said. Higher diesel availability in the US may dampen US buying interest, giving way to greater European bidding activity. Olmeca-Europe diesel flow could "make sense" as diesel stocks in the US Gulf coast refining hub "are looking very full", one European analyst said. Total USGC distillate fuel stocks, which include 10ppm diesel, hit a 53-month high of 50.12mn bl in the week to 2 January, according to the EIA. Europe could be in the market for sources of alternative distillate supply in the coming months, potentially including Olmeca diesel. The EU will ban the import of oil products refined with Russian crude from 21 January. This may lead to a reduction of supplies from Turkey and India, where Russian crude continues to form a part of refinery feedstocks. And Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery is marketing its diesel to African buyers , potentially strengthening Pemex's hand as a source of relatively proximate Atlantic basin distillate supply. By George Maher-Bonnett, Cas Biekmann and Amaar Khan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Naphtha flows to Venezuela via traders resume
Naphtha flows to Venezuela via traders resume
Houston, 12 January (Argus) — Trading company Vitol is set to export nearly 500,000 bls of naphtha to Venezuela under a new agreement with the US government, according to market sources. Details of the new supply agreement were not detailed or confirmed by Vitol or fellow-trader Trafigura, which was also involved in the transaction. Both companies are expected to begin working with the US government to market Venezuelan crude, with Trafigura saying last week during a televised meeting at the White House it expected its first Venezuelan crude to load this week . The 460,000 bl of naphtha were reported loaded on the Hellespont Protector on 11 January out of Pasadena, Texas, according to shipping data tracker Kpler. The cargo was headed to the Port of Jose in Venezuela. Venezuela requires heavy to full-range N+A naphtha as a diluent to transport its heavy crude production. A brief expiration of US sanctions against Venezuela in 2025 stemmed the US naphtha flow to Venezuela. The only company able to transact with Venezuela was oil major Chevron, which was awarded a special limited license in July 2025. Naphtha exports through Chevron resumed several months after the special license was created. Late last week, heavy virgin naphtha (HVN) prices at the US Gulf coast surged by more than 10¢/USG as suppliers anticipate fresh demand for exports to Venezuela. A steepened contango in the Nymex RBOB pricing basis for US N+A naphtha also discouraged prompt selling at lower outright values — a bullish indicator for N+A naphtha prices. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indonesian pres inaugurates Balikpapan refinery:Correct
Indonesian pres inaugurates Balikpapan refinery:Correct
Corrects headline to clarify this was an inauguration, not the unit's startup Singapore, 12 January (Argus) — Indonesia's president Prabowo has inaugurated the Balikpapan Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project, according to the country's energy ministry. The upgrade is planned to raise the refinery's capacity to 360,000 b/d from 260,000 b/d and added a new 90,000 b/d RFCC unit. Product quality will also improve from Euro 2 to Euro 5 standards. The refinery is expected to begin operations in the first-quarter, said sources familiar with the matter. Pertamina has invested 120 trillion rupiah ($7.4bn) in the project. The RFCC start-up coupled with the adoption of E10 blending is expected to cut Indonesia's gasoline import requirements, capping regional gasoline crack spreads, traders said. Indonesia is Asia-Pacific's largest gasoline importer, with typical demand at 10mn-11mn bl/month. At full capacity, the RFCC could cut imports by around 40,000 b/d, analysts said. Indonesia may also see a diesel surplus when it implements mandatory 50pc biodiesel (B50) blending and ramps up Balikpapan output, the country's energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia said in November. The start-up will also reduce exports of low-sulphur waxy residue, which will be used as RFCC feedstock. The refinery may instead export slurry or residual RFCC material, although this could be used for domestic bunkering if volumes are small, a source close to operations said. The inauguration was initially scheduled for 10 November but was delayed, traders said. By Aldric Chew Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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