Gasoline margin down for a second straight week in May

Asia’s gasoline markets ended the week over 4% down, extending losses from last week, as build up at key trading hubs of Singapore, Middle East and Europe offset gains arising from a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. inventories.

The gasoline refining profit margin in the region rose by 26 cents to $8.27 a barrel on Friday, although volatility in crude oil benchmarks kept the sentiment cautious.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub rose nearly 9% to 1.43 million tonnes in the week to May 11 as exports to the United States and West Africa slowed, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Naphtha stocks rose to 263,000 tonnes in the week to Thursday from 229,000 tonnes in the prior week.

Light distillate stocks in ARA are at their highest level since mid-March and are almost 4 million barrels higher than the 2015-19 range for this time of the year, according to estimates by consultancy FGE.

The latest weekly increase in ARA was the biggest since mid-August 2022, FGE said in a note.

NEWS

– OPEC’s global oil demand forecast for 2023 was held steady for a third month on Thursday, with the producer group citing the potential Chinese growth to be offset by downside economic risks elsewhere such as the U.S. debt ceiling.
– Oil prices slipped on Friday, heading for a fourth weekly decline, as renewed economic concerns in the United States and China revived concern about fuel demand growth in the world’s two largest oil consumers.
Source: Reuters