Asia’s gasoline markets gained about 12% this week on the back of firm demand and fears of supply disruption on reports unplanned outages at two plants in the region, market players said.

The gasoline crack traded steady above $12 per barrel over Brent crude on Friday.

In naphtha markets, the crack eased by about 21% this week amid volatility in crude prices, although shipping tensions in the Red Sea continued to add supply fears in broader commodity markets.

Naphtha refining margin declined by about $9 to $85.72 per metric ton over Brent crude on Friday.

INVENTORIES ARA/

Gasoline stocks in the in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose in the week to Thursday, by 7% to 875,000 tons, marking their first weekly increase since the week to Nov. 30, data from Insights Global showed.

Naphtha stocks dropped 11.2% to 265,000 tons, as an uptick in gasoline blending demand offset persistently weak demand inland from the European petrochemical sector, Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

NEWS

– Oil rose on Friday, heading for a weekly gain, as Middle East tensions and oil output disruptions caused by cold weather in the U.S., the world’s biggest producer, overshadowed concerns about the health of the Chinese and global economy.

– Europe suffers from a lack of on the ground execution for subsidisied energy projects which leaves many far from completed, the chief executive of Portugal’s largest utility firm Energias de Portugal said to Reuters in Davos.

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Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)