Asia's gasoline crack fell 18 percent to a two-month low of $8.91 a barrel as heavy stocks in the United States and Europe countered demand in Asia and the Middle East and Africa. US refiners are now cutting output to reverse slumping profit margins due to record high inventories ahead of the critical summer driving season.
But analysts forecast that stockpiles of gasoline decreased 1.6 million barrels in the week ended February 17, a preliminary Reuters poll showed. The drop in the gasoline crack came shortly after Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) completed buying more than 240,000 tonnes of gasoline for March to April delivery to plug a supply gap caused by a recent fire at its Ruwais refinery.
The current design output of the Takreer system is 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline, with about 70,000 bpd of it from Ruwais West, consultancy firm FGE said in a daily note. That capacity is out of the picture until the RFCC and alkylation unit are back on-stream, it added.
NAPHTHA TUMBLES Similar to gasoline, Asia's naphtha crack fell but by a smaller percent of nearly 10 percent to a seven-week low of $82.33 a tonne despite ongoing demand. Although supplies are expected to increase due to Qatar having restored normal runs at its newer condensate splitter and western cargoes arriving in Asia in April could be higher than in March, demand has remained firm, traders said.
Taiwanese Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Asia's top naphtha importer, was looking for open-specification naphtha (with a minimum paraffin content of 70 percent) for first-half April delivery to Mailiao. The tender is valid until Thursday but traders expect the deal to be sealed at a premium of about $4 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
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