Asia’s gasoline refining profit margin extended gains on Thursday as a series of trades for the benchmark-grade of the fuel lifted sentiment.

The crack jumped to $12 per barrel over Brent crude, compared with $10.90 a barrel a day earlier. Reports of outages at a plant in Thailand also supported the crack. GL92-SIN-CRK

At the Singapore window, a total of 250,000 barrels of 92-octane grade of gasoline changed hands, and 25,000 metric tons of naphtha were also traded, market players said.

The naphtha crack continued to ease for a third straight session on broader weakness in the petrochemical markets and a surge in crude prices.

NEWS

– Oil prices rose on Thursday as the IEA joined producer group OPEC in forecasting relatively strong growth in global oil demand this year, with price impetus also coming from disruption to U.S. output and geopolitical risks in the Middle East.

– Global naphtha markets will likely suffer from lower profit margins in 2024 as refining and petrochemical capacity expansions in China and the Middle East outpace plastics demand growth globally, traders and analysts said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

Five gasoline trades, one naphtha deal.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)