Asia’s first-half September naphtha price plunged by $10 on Wednesday reflecting the weakness in crude oil benchmarks, although the downside was limited due to a decline in Middle Eastern inventories.

The refining profit margin for naphtha was little changed at $69.70 per metric ton over Brent crude in a steady backwardation of $4.50 a ton.

At the deals window, there were several bids for second-half September naphtha and first-half October cargo against three offers. Energy trader BP snapped up 25,000 tons of naphtha for second-half September delivery. O/AS

In the gasoline market, the margin was on a steady uptrend but price for the benchmark-grade of gasoline fell below $90 per barrel due to soft fuel demand in the United States.

In tenders, a Taiwanese seller was heard offering 93-octane grade and 95-octane grade of gasoline for August delivery, market participants said.

INVENTORIES
Light distillate stocks at the Fujairah commercial hub declined by 578,000 barrels to 6.236 million barrels in the week to July 22, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

NEWS
– Oil prices traded around their lowest level in six weeks on Wednesday, as the northern hemisphere gets deeper into summer with limited signs of the expected fuel consumption surge the period usually sees. O/R

– U.S. oil refiners are expected to report sharply lower second quarter earnings from a year ago after a listless summer driving season that weakened refining margins, energy analysts said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS
One naphtha deal, one gasoline trade.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Maju Samuel)