Asia Refining: Gasoline crack hits seven-week low, posts weekly loss as inventories climb

Asia’s gasoline refining margins dropped to their lowest in seven weeks on Friday, falling for the week as stockpiles of the distillate product in Europe jumped to a record high while only one regional deal took place by the end of the session.

The crack (GL92-SIN-CRK) lost $0.99 from the previous day to $5.53, posting a decline of 22.33% this week.

Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose over 8% on the week to their highest on record, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

The inventories continued to rise owing to low exports, especially on the transatlantic route to the U.S., Insight Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

Still, on the naphtha end, the stockpiles dipped by 1.05% to 469,000 tons.

In thin trading for the day, naphtha cracking margins (NAF-SIN-CRK) fell over $7 to $85.60, snapping a two-week rise to lose 21.93% on the week.

NEWS

Oil prices rose on Friday and were on track for a third straight week of gains as traders focused on potential supply disruptions from sanctions while icy conditions in parts of the United States and Europe are expected to drive up fuel demand.

Shell SHEL will write down around $400 million over an oil discovery offshore Namibia that it deemed commercially unviable in a blow to the southern African country’s efforts to become a crude producer.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which exports Kazakhstan’s oil via the Black Sea, was seen pumping 64.4 million metric tons of oil in 2024 in a latest estimate, further downgrading its exporting prospects, according to a shareholder.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

One gasoline trade, no naphtha trades.
Source: Reuters