Asia’s gasoline margins kicked off the month on a positive note amid hopes of firmer demand during China’s holiday week, although markets continue to reel from high prices and lower consumption as peak summer demand in the U.S. came to an end.

The crack traded above $3 a barrel over Brent crude on Monday, while the benchmark grade of gasoline fell by about $2 to $96 per barrel.

At the deals window, energy trader Vitol bought 50,000 barrels of 92-octane grade of gasoline, market participants said. Naphtha markets were devoid of any deals for the eighth consecutive trading day.

Analysts expect gasoline crack to find support from tight supplies due to planned outages at several plants in the region and hopes of robust demand during festival seasons in China and India up until November-end.

“While Singapore gasoline cracks will continue to be volatile in the coming weeks, we expect them to find a floor at around $7-8 per barrel over November and December,” analysts at energy consultancy FGE said in a note on Friday.

TENDERS

Indian Oil sold 35,000 tons of naphtha to energy trader ADNOC for loading during Oct. 18-19 from Chennai, market sources said. The refiner also sold 40,000 tons of reformate to ENOC loading from Chennai port.

MRPL sold 40,000 tons of reformate to energy trader Glencore, sources added.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)