Asia’s naphtha prices declined on Friday in tandem with weakness in crude oil benchmarks and the margin was down about 1% at $83.90 per metric ton amid thin window activity this week.

In the feedstock market, Enterprise Products Partners said its ethane and butane exports could be hurt by a U.S. Department of Commerce requirement that it apply for a license to export to China.

Ethane is a cheap alternative feedstock to naphtha widely used by Chinese petrochemical producers. Traders said they were cautiously watching out for easing of the new rules although poor petrochemical demand would help quell any effect of delayed cargoes.

In the gasoline market, the crack rose to $10.22 per barrel on Friday after inventories in the U.S. and Europe plunged.

U.S. gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI) fell by 2.4 million barrels last week to 223.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 527,000-barrel draw.

Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by nearly 9% to 1.107 million tons in the week to May 22, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed on Thursday.

NEWS
– The Big Star, a huge tanker with 2.1 million barrels of Russia’s ESPO Blend oil onboard, has been waiting near China in a potential sign of weaker demand for the crude in the region, LSEG data showed and two traders said on Friday.
– Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said the kingdom would “take stock” of its spending priorities in response to a significant decline in oil revenue, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
One gasoline trade.
Source: Reuters