Asia’s naphtha markets weakened by about 13% this week amid volatility in crude oil benchmarks, and the backwardation between second-half August and second-half September naphtha prices nearly halved to $5.75 a ton.

The refining profit margin for naphtha NAF-SIN-CRK was steady above $63 per metric ton on Friday. Healthy spot buying activity limited the downside for cracks.

At the deals window, energy trader Vitol snapped up 25,000 tons of the light distillate for second-half September delivery, market participants said. O/AS

In gasoline markets, buoyant import demand from Japan helped cracks GL92-SIN-CRK climb by about 15% this week. Declining inventories at key trading hubs also supported the margin.

Gasoline stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by 4.7% to 1.06 million metric tons in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Higher exports to the United States and stronger local demand caused the decrease in inventories, Insight Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

NEWS

– Russia’s seaborne oil product exports in June fell to 8.894 million metric tons, down 4.2% month on month, due to unplanned refinery maintenance activities and local fuel demand, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.

– Brent crude oil has been trading in a tight range of $75-$90 a barrel since late 2022 as OPEC+ cuts keep a floor under prices while sizeable spare capacity, demand uncertainty and sanctions policy prevent the market breaking higher.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

One naphtha trade, no gasoline deals.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Tasim Zahid)