Asia’s naphtha cracks extended losses for the second straight day of the week, but mixed views on the cracker runs in northeast Asia kept prices fluctuating within the $10 a ton range.
Some trade sources were expecting better demand from northeast Asia soon, given some cracker unit restarts in the next few days in South Korea and Taiwan.
Furthermore, buyers started to show interest in spot December material, after cracks continued to hover in the negative territory for the second consecutive session and production spreads for naphtha crackers widened from before.
On the gasoline front, activity remained slow and cracks were steady GL92-SIN-CRK despite steady prices in the West amid some unexpected outages in the South America regions.
The open trading market was equally quiet, given the slight uncertainty in fundamentals, as seen from a lack of deals and firm discussions.
Enquiries in the blend stocks market for the production of higher octane gasoline were also minimal, two sources said, though it was still lucrative.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for gasoline and naphtha.
INVENTORIES
– Analysts in a Reuters poll estimated stockpiles of gasoline were down by about 1.6 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, were seen decreasing by about 1.7 million barrels.
REFINERY NEWS
– Pemex shut down the 270,000 barrel-per-day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery on Monday because a process line ruptured, said people familiar with plant operations.
– The catalytic cracker of Venezuela’s second-largest refinery, the 310,000-barrel-per-day Cardon, was taken out of service over the weekend due to lack of feedstock, five sources close to operations said on Monday.
NEWS
– Oil prices steadied onTuesday after sliding more than $1 on Monday amid hopes the U.S. would ease sanctions on producer Venezuela and as Washington stepped up efforts to prevent an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas.
– Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in August hit their lowest level in 28 months as they fell for a fifth straight month, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Monday.
– Venezuela’s government and opposition will resume long-suspended talks on Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro said would benefit the upcoming 2024 election, a move that could lead to Washington easing sanctions, multiple sources said on Monday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Sonia Cheema)