Asia’s naphtha markets extended their rally on Thursday on the back of persisting supply concerns for January cargoes, traders said.

The crack jumped by about $6 to $111.30 per metric ton, the highest level since Feb. 28, over Brent crude and the backwardation in price structure rose to $10 per ton.

In northwest Europe, refining margins for naphtha have soared to eight-month highs boosted by Asian demand as major refinery maintenance and weather issues in the Black Sea and Panama Canal have caused a shortfall in global supply.

Buyers in Asia are seeking cargoes for December and January, even though the regular Asian trading cycle has already moved onto February, sources said.

At the trading window, energy trader BP Asia bought 25,000 tons of naphtha for first-half February delivery, market players said.

INVENTORIES

Singapore light distillate stocks fell by 533,000 barrels to a near two-month low of 11.5 million barrels in the week to Dec. 13, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

NEWS

– India’s Russian oil imports in November rose to a 4-month high of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), up 3.1% from October, making up about 36% of the nation’s overall imports last month, data obtained from trade sources showed.

– World oil demand will rise faster than expected next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, a sign that the outlook for near-term oil use remains robust despite this week’s COP28 agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

Four gasoline trades, one naphtha deal.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)