Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline up, but demand remains weak

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Gasoline barge prices innorthwest Europe edged up on Monday, though the overall outlookfor demand remained sombre. Traders are still awaiting third quarter allocations fromNigeria's Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, whichare expected shortly. But there was little sign of any pickup in summer drivingdemand from the United States, due to the abundant supplies ofgasoline already in the market. Adding to the bearish picture, BP said that it hadcompleted the commissioning and start-up of a new 250,000barrels-per-day crude distillation unit at its 413,000 bpdrefinery in Whiting, Indiana. Over in the naphtha market, participants said thefundamentals still looked very poor. "The only support is comingfrom Asia," one broker said. Propane is now trading at a $70 a tonne discount to naphtha,making it a competitive feedstock for those petrochemical buyerswho can crack both. GASOLINE * No Eurobob gasoline barges traded in the Platts window fora seventh consecutive session. * Some 7,000 tonnes traded on the Argus platform, at$930-$941 a tonne fob ARA, up from $930-$933 a tonne on Friday. * Trafigura, Mercuria, Chevron and Vitol sold the barges toBP, Shell, Gunvor and Cargill. The early trades came at premiumsof $11 a tonne to the July swaps, up from premiums of $2-$4 atonne on Friday. * Kolmar sold a 2,000 tonne barge of premium unleadedgasoline to Total at $955 a tonne fob ARA, up from Friday'strade at $948 a tonne. * By 1537 GMT, Eurobob's crack to dated Brent was ataround $9.03 a barrel, up from around $8.05 a barrel on Friday. * ICE Brent crude futures were up 95 cents at$103.11 a barrel. * U.S. RBOB gasoline futures for July were up 1percent at $2.7433 a gallon and the prompt crack was at $17.33. NAPHTHA * No physical naphtha cargoes traded. The July swap wasquoted at around $828.62 a tonne cif NWE. * The July naphtha crack swap was trading at around minus$9.25 a barrel, a little firmer than Friday's minus $9.33 abarrel. (Reporting by Claire Milhench, editing by Jeff Coelho)