Asia’s naphtha refining crack steadied on Thursday after sliding to its lowest in a month in the previous session.

The crack (NAF-SIN-CRK) closed at $92.78 a barrel on Thursday, up more than $3 from Wednesday.

Meanwhile, inventories of light distillates in Singapore were down week on week, the latest data showed.

Stocks of light distillates in Singapore dipped 3.9% to 15.42 million barrels in the week to Jan. 8, based on data from Enterprise Singapore.

In the gasoline market, U.S. stockpiles rose by 6.3 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3 to 237.7 million barrels, said the EIA, marking a steeper climb than analysts had expected. Analayst had projected a build of 1.5 million barrels.

NEWS

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday, with investors weighing firm winter fuel demand expectations against large increases to U.S. fuel inventories and macroeconomic concerns.

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China in February is set to decline from the previous month, trade sources said on Thursday after the kingdom raised its prices and OPEC+ extended production cuts in the first quarter.

Global energy major BP has pledged to lift oil production by 44% and gas output by 89% from India’s largest field off its west coast under a decade-long contract, block operator Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC said on Thursday.

Indonesia said on Thursday that its exports of used cooking oil and palm oil residue in recent years had exceeded production capacity, indicating crude palm oil had been mixed in, prompting regulation this week to curb shipments.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

No naphtha trade, two gasoline trades.
Source: Reuters