Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha margin flips to premium amid crude volatility

Asia’s naphtha market kicked off the month by flipping into premiums amid volatility in crude oil benchmarks, although overall sentiment remained subdued due to tepid demand.

The crack NAF-SIN-CRK jumped to a premium of $1.90 a metric ton over Brent crude on Wednesday, compared with a discount of $17.90 a day earlier.

Analysts at FGE said in a note that a further weakening in crude prices would push naphtha cracks higher, but a rebound there would also send cracks lower across the board.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s state oil producer Aramco raised official selling prices (OSPs) for alternative feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in November by 1%-2% from October due to rising LPG demand, traders said.

Aramco’s November OSP for propane was increased by $10 to $610 per tonne, while OSP for butane was raised by $5 to $620 per tonne.

NEWS
– Long Son Petrochemicals, a unit of Thailand’s SCG Chemicals, will test run its petrochemical complex in southern Vietnam in November and December, the company said on Wednesday. Full commercial production at the facility will begin early next year, the company said in an emailed statement.

– Russian oil product exports from the Black Sea port of Tuapse in November are set to fall by 0.2% month-on-month to 1.103 million metric tons from 1.142 million scheduled for October, two traders said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)