Asia’s naphtha markets gained further on Monday after a naphtha tanker owned by Trafigura was hit by attacks in the Red Sea over the weekend, adding to supply disruption fears in the region, traders said.

The crack jumped by about $16 to $118.63 per metric ton over Brent crude, after rising about 19% last week on Russian supply disruption worries.

Commodities trader Trafigura said on Saturday it was assessing the security risks of further Red Sea voyages after firefighters put out a blaze on a tanker attacked by Yemen’s Houthi group a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Russia will likely cut exports of naphtha by some 127,500-136,000 barrels per day, or around a third of its total exports, after fires disrupted operations at refineries on the Baltic and Black Seas, according to traders and LSEG ship-tracking data.

NEWS

– Russia energy infrastructure has been hit by drone attacks and fires in the past month, adding to uncertainty in global oil and gas markets already rocked by the conflict in the Middle East.

– Shell is planning to shut a 208,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude distillation unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands, taking half the capacity of Europe’s biggest plant offline, industry monitor IIR said in a note to clients that was seen by Reuters.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

One gasoline trade, no naphtha deals.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Eileen Soreng)