Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin fell deeper into the negative on Thursday and the structure flipped into contango again after a brief session of backwardation.
The discount on naphtha crack rose to $8.63 a tonne over Brent crude from $2.45 a tonne in the last session. The second-half July naphtha traded 25 cents cheaper than the following month.
Ample supplies and persisting tepid demand from petrochemical units weighed on markets, trade sources said.
Meanwhile, India’s HPCL sold 21,000-23,000 tonnes of naphtha to the energy trading arm of Total for loading during June 18-22.
INVENTORIES
Singapore light distillates stocks climbed by 1.184 million barrels to a four-week high of 16.315 million barrels in the week to June 7, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
– U.S. gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI) rose by 2.7 million barrels in the week, government data showed, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 880,000-barrel rise.
NEWS
– India’s fuel demand in May rose 9.7% year-on-year, while diesel sales continued to climb to hit a fresh peak, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.
– Oil fell on Thursday as worries about weakening demand in a global economic slowdown overshadowed a pending drop in supply resulting from Saudi Arabia’s pledged production cuts.
Source: Reuters