Asia’s gasoline refining profit margin continued to hover below $7 per barrel on Wednesday even as U.S. inventories declined, as high supplies weighed on market sentiment.

The crack traded at $6.21 per barrel over Brent crude.

U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 2.549 million barrels last week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

Global oil demand will peak by 2029 and begin to contract the next year, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, while oil supply capacity is due to vastly outpace demand by the end of the decade.

Demand growth will be driven mostly by emerging economies in Asia, especially by road transportation in India, as well as jet fuel and petrochemicals in China, the agency said.

– U.S. oil refiners and West Coast traders are flagging concerns about the quality of crude shipped on the newly completed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, warning that high vapor pressure and acidity limits could deter purchases of Canadian heavy barrels.

– Oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday after three key forecasters predicted that global oil inventories would fall in the second half of 2024, boosting prices.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Varun H K)