Asia’s naphtha markets weakened for the third consecutive session on Thursday amid lower demand, although fears of supply disruption due to attacks in Russia and Red Sea cushioned the fall, traders said.

The crack shrank by about $18 to $72.90 per metric ton over Brent crude, and the backwardation narrowed to $15 per ton.

The prompt availability of naphtha is hit due to geopolitical tensions which is supporting margins, but supplies should be ample as Middle Eastern plants come back from maintenance, analysts and traders said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s state oil producer Aramco and Algeria’s Sonatrach have raised February official selling prices (OSPs) for alternative feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 1.6-2.0% versus January due to rising oil prices and increased demand, traders said.

At the window, energy trader BP bought 25,000 tons of second-half March cargo at $675 per ton, market players said. The trade could happen only because prices eased, they added.
The gasoline crack, on the other hand, was little changed at $14.72 per barrel over Brent crude on Thursday.

INVENTORIES

Singapore light distillate stocks rose to seven-month high of 14.221 million barrels in the week to Jan. 27, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

NEWS

– The tanker Luggati is being loaded at Novatek’s terminal at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, where the company’s fuel-producing complex was damaged by fire in January, according to industry sources and LSEG data. The tanker is designed for loading dirty oil products and, presumably, can take on fuel oil from the complex’s storage tanks, the sources added.

– South Korean refiner GS Caltex plans to shut its No. 2 crude distillation unit (CDU) and some corresponding downstream units at its Yeosu refinery for maintenance in March, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

One naphtha trade.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)