Asia’s gasoline crack was steady on Thursday amid scant trade at the deals window, while a large build up in Singapore light distillate inventories added downside pressure.
The refining profit margin for gasoline traded at $8.73 per barrel over Brent crude.
Singapore light distillate stocks climbed to a near two-year high of 16.858 million barrels in the week to March 19, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
U.S. gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI) fell by about 530,000 barrels in the week to 240.6 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel draw.
Activity in the naphtha market also remained quiet, with the crack trading flat at about $117 per metric ton over Brent crude on Thursday.
NEWS
Russia has surpassed the United Arab Emirates as India’s top naphtha supplier in the year to March 2025, as refiners capitalise on discounted cargoes, preliminary ship-tracking data showed, a trend buyers expect to persist for another year.
Asia’s sour crude demand is set to rebound from late in the second quarter as refiners return from maintenance and Exxon Mobil XOM.N completes a Singapore refinery upgrade that is poised to increase its heavy oil use, traders and analysts said.
Source: Reuters