Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin gave up most gains this week as supply worries over Red Sea tensions eased while demand from petrochemical facilities remained slow, forcing crackers to keep run rates lower.
The crack shrank to about $71 per metric ton over Brent crude on Friday, from around $89 per ton at the beginning of the week.
Market players said ethylene and propylene demand will likely stay tepid this year amid economic headwinds.
In gasoline markets, the crack fell below $10 per barrel over Brent crude on Friday amid a large build in U.S. stocks.
INVENTORIES
U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 10.9 million barrels, the largest build since May 1993, to 237 million barrels in the week to Dec 29, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 215,000 barrel drop.
Gasoline stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub dropped by over 3% in the week to 890,000 tons to their lowest since Dec. 2021, data from Insights Global showed.
NEWS
– China’s oil trade with Iran has stalled as Tehran withholds shipments and demands higher prices from its top client, tightening cheap supply for the world’s biggest crude importer, refinery and trade sources said.
– India approved signing a 5-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guyana to cooperate in the hydrocarbon sector as the South Asian nation looks to diversify its oil import sources.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS
One gasoline trade, no naphtha deals.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)