LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gasoline refining margins innorthwest Europe rose sharply on Friday to nearly $9 a barrelamid steady exports out of the region.
* Exports to West Africa have risen significantly in recentdays, supporting European prices, after a long lull in trafficon the route due to cash liquidity problems in the Nigeria,traders said.
* Exports to the U.S. East Coast have been maintained at asteady pace, though significantly lower then previous months.
* So far in August, around 700,000 tonnes of gasoline havebeen booked out of Europe and the Mediterranean to NorthAmerica, according to Reuters shipping data.
* Gasoline stocks independently held in the ARA storage hubfell for a third straight week, dropping more than 5 percent inthe week to Thursday as overseas demand for the motor fuel grew,Dutch consultancy PJK International said.
GASOLINE
* There were no Eurobob trades during the afternoon tradingwindow.
* Some 8,000 tonnes traded throughout the day at $441-$447 atonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $422-$439 a tonneon Thursday. Litasco, Gunvor and Total sold to Shell andRolympus and BP.
* Seven barges of premium unleaded gasoline traded at$472-$474 a tonne fob ARA, up from $458-$460 a tonne. Rolympusand Koch sold to Total.
* Gasoline barge refining margins rose to $8.78 a barrelfrom $6.5 a barrel.
* The September swap stood at around $451 a tonne at theclose, up $445.50 a tonne.
* Brent crude oil futures were up 56 cents to $46.60a barrel by 1542 GMT.
* U.S. August RBOB gasoline futures were down 0.36 percent at 1.3574 a gallon.
* The U.S. gasoline crack
NAPHTHA
* Shell sold a cargo to Gunvor at $359 a tonne cif NWE, upfrom Thursday's trade of $355 a tonne cif NWE. (Reporting by Ron Bousso)