Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin ended the month nearly 10% higher amid some spot purchases from South Korean and Japanese buyers and lower supplies from Russia.
The crack was down by $1.5 at $24.57 per metric on last trading day of the month. Singapore markets are closed on Friday on account of a public holiday.
At the physical trading window, energy trader BP bought 25,000 tons of second-half October naphtha, market participants said. O/AS
A flurry of gasoline trades supported sentiment for the fuel, keeping the crack steady above $16 per barrel on Thursday.
A total of 250,000 barrels of the transport fuel was traded at the window. PTT snapped up 150,000 barrels of the benchmark-grade of the fuel, while Vitol and Sietco purchased a cargo each of 50,000 barrels.
Gasoline margin remained stable in August amid low inventories and speculation around China fuel export quotas, analysts and traders said.
INVENTORIES
Singapore inventories of light distillates rose by 162,000 barrels to a three-week high of 12.928 million barrels in the week to Aug. 30, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
NEWS
– China’s apparent refined fuel demand is expected to increase by 10% year-on-year in the second half of 2023, the President of PetroChina Huang Yongzhang said on Thursday.
– China’s tepid economic growth and a possible extension of oil output cuts from top exporter Saudi Arabia are set to dominate discussions as global energy executives and officials gather next week at two major industry events in Singapore.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)