Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin was little changed on Wednesday amid a lack of deals at the window for a fourth straight session, although expectations of a rise in demand from China kept sentiment upbeat.
The crack traded at $73.10 per metric ton over Brent crude, compared with $74.98 per ton. The backwardation between second-half August and second-half September naphtha stood at $8 a ton.
At the window, energy trader Gunvor purchased 100,000 barrels of the higher 95-octane grade of gasoline and Unipec bought 50,000 barrels of the same grade.
The gasoline crack (GL92-SIN-CRK) was rangebound at $11.58 per barrel over Brent crude on Wednesday. Asia’s reforming margin, or gasoline’s premium over naphtha, rose to $16.68 a barrel, the highest since June 23.
INVENTORIES
Light distillate stocks at the Fujairah trading hub rose by 749,000 barrels to 7.487 million barrels in the week to June 30, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.
NEWS
– The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf last month, a move that intensified concerns in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following Israel’s strikes on sites across Iran, according to two U.S. officials.
– At least four people died when a vessel capsized while being towed in the Gulf of Suez, one of Egypt’s prominent Red Sea oil production sites, the vessel operator’s Saudi Arabian owner, ADES Holding Company, said on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters