European oil refining margins turn negative, fall to 6-year low

LONDON (Reuters) - Northwest European oil refining margins turned negative on Tuesday, falling to around -$0.49 a barrel, Reuters calculations showed.

Margins fell to their lowest since October 2013.

A sharp fall in gasoline and fuel oil margins in recent days precipitated the fall, with a relative strength in middle distillates failing to keep overall margins in positive territory, traders said.

"The return of refineries from maintenance has seriously reduced refinery economics, and this is not a sign of strong global oil product demand," consultancy Petromatrix said in a note on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; editing by Jason Neely)