LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Diesel barge differentials in northwest Europe rose sharply on Wednesday on concerns of supply disruptions due to loading delays at BP's BP.L Rotterdam refinery, traders said.

Diesel barge loading out of the 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery has been delayed, four trading sources said, citing problems at one of the plant's crude distillation units.

ID:nL5N0JJ3YD

A spokesperson for BP declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

"Word got around of the BP loading problems and that is spooking the market," a trader said.

Several new tanker fixtures appeared on the route from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Europe for loading between Dec. 6-13, suggesting the arbitrage is operational for some refiners despite high freight rates, traders said.

U.S. distillate production reached a record high last week at 5.1 million barrels per day (bpd), the Energy Information Administration said. EIA/S

December is expected to see lower U.S. exports at around 2 million tonnes, with around 1.2 million tonnes already heading this way, according to traders.

Forecasts for a mild winter and subsequent lower consumption of heating oil in Europe are more bad news for the region's refineries, which have seen profits crushed in recent months by waves of product imports, analysts said. ID:nL5N0JI3JI

German residential heating oil stocks are expected to rise by around 2 percentage points in December to 65 percent of tank capacity, compared with a five-year average of 61 percent, traders said. PROD/DE

"We see a near-normal or slightly warmer-than-normal winter with no major cold episodes like the ones experienced in some recent winters," Georg Muller, a meteorologist at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, said.

Temperatures in January and February are expected to remain above average in the region, he said.

Russia's top crude producer Rosneft ROSN.MM said it will sell up to 1.8 million tonnes of ultra low-sulphur diesel to BP

BP.L from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk for up to $1.9 billion. ID:nL5N0JI14W

GASOIL EURO/DIFF/GO

* One barge of 0.1 percent gasoil traded at minus $1 a tonne fob ARA to the December ICE gasoil futures, down from minus 50 cents a tonne on Tuesday. Gunvor sold to Glencore.

* Three barges of 50 ppm gasoil traded at $6.50 a tonne fob ARA, up from $3-$4 a tonne. Phillips 66, AST and Belgomine sold to Morgan Stanley.

* By 1720 GMT December ICE gasoil futures LGOc1 were down 50 cents a tonne at $945.25 a tonne.

* The ICE gasoil crack LGO-LCO1=R was at $14.82 a barrel, down from $14.90 a barrel on Tuesday.

* December and January ICE gasoil futures were in a contango

LGO-1=R of $1.25 a tonne, down from $1.75 on Tuesday.

DIESEL ULSD10-BD-ARA

* Fourteen diesel barges traded at $11-$13 a tonne fob ARA above December gasoil futures, up from $7-$8 a tonne on Tuesday.

One barge traded at $11 a tonne fob ARA above the January gasoil contract.

* Vitol, Shell, Glencore and BP sold to Morgan Stanley, TPR and Trafigura.

JET FUEL JET-BD-ARA

* Three jet fuel barges traded. Vitol sold one barge at $68 a tonne fob ARA above the December gasoil contract, up from $66-$67 a tonne on Tuesday. KLM sold to Shell one cargo at $65 a tonne fob ARA above the January gasoil contract.

* No cargoes traded. Vitol offered two cargoes at $69 and $71 a tonne cif NWE above the January gasoil futures.

FUEL OIL EURO/DIFF/FO

* Barges of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) with 1 percent sulphur content were discussed at $621 a tonne fob ARA.

* Barges of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) with 3.5 percent sulphur content traded at $583-$584 a tonne fob ARA, up from $582-$582.50 a tonne.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Anthony Barker)

((Ron Bousso)(email: ron.bousso@thomsonreuters.com)(Tel.: +44 0 207 542 2161)(Reuters Messaging: ron.bousso.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 

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Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE/DISTILLATES