Asia’s gasoline refining profit margin eased on Tuesday on expectations of rising supplies from India and China amid sagging domestic demand this month, analysts and traders said.
The crack for the fuel traded at $9.23 per barrel over Brent crude, compared with $10.46 a day earlier. At the window, 200,000 barrels of benchmark-grade of gasoline was traded, market participants said.
China’s local demand for transport fuel “continues to shrink as electricity displaces gasoline in the passenger vehicle fleet, especially in summer where electric cars’ batteries are not adverse affected by cold temperatures, maximizing driving range,” LSEG Research said in a note.
In the naphtha market, the crack was little changed at $72.73 per metric ton over Brent crude on Tuesday and the backwardation between second-half August and second-half September cargo narrowed by 25 cents to $7 a ton.
In contracts, Malaysia’s Lotte Chemical Titan said on Monday that its Indonesian subsidiary has agreed to a 10-year ethylene supply deal worth around $3 billion with its downstream petrochemical producer, Lotte Chemical Indonesia Nusantara.
Asia’s reforming margin, or gasoline’s premium over naphtha, fell to the lowest level since June 30 to $14.68 a barrel.
NEWS
– India plans to source about 10% of its cooking gas imports from the U.S. beginning in 2026 as part of a broader effort to boost energy purchases to narrow its trade gap with Washington, four industry refining sources familiar with the matter said.
– Exxon Mobil signaled that lower oil and gas prices could cut its second-quarter earnings by about $1.5 billion from the previous quarter’s level.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
One gasoline trade.
Source: Reuters