Asia’s naphtha margins declined on Monday, even as supply is expected to bounce back as the maintenance of at least two regional crackers wraps up in the coming weeks.
The crack dropped by $1.80 to $95.90 per metric ton over Brent crude.
Traders said that naphtha demand is expected to get a boost with the restart ofFormosa Petrochemical Corp’s 700,000 metric tons per year cracker in Mailiao, Taiwan, from the start of next month, and Japan’s Mitsui Chemical’s 455,000 metric tons per year Sakai-based cracker coming back online by early October.
However, supplies of the light distillate could also be squeezed by refinery run cuts prompted by weakening margins for other refined products across the barrel, an LSEG report said.
The gasoline crack inched down to $6.72 per barrel above Brent crude from $6.76 on Friday.
In tenders, Pakistan’s PSO was seeking 92-octane gasoline and 95-octane gasoline, for the loading period of Nov. 11-13, the company website listed. The tender closes on Sept. 30.
NEWS
Oil prices rose slightly on Monday after last week’s cut to U.S. interest rates and a dip in U.S. crude supply in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine countered weaker demand from top oil importer China. Brent crude futures LCOc1 for November edged up by 14 cents, or 0.19%, to $74.63 a barrel. U.S. crude futures CLc1 for November were up 16 cents, or 0.23%, at $71.16.
India’s monthly oil imports from Russia fell by 18.3% to about 1.7 million barrels per day in August from the previous month due to lower crude processing by some refiners, tanker data obtained from trade sources showed.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
One gasoline deal and no naphtha trade.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Haridas; Editing by Eileen Soreng)