LONDON: The gasoline crack firmed on Thursday as traders expected the publication of gasoline stocks in the United States next week to show a decline, following the travel-intense July 4 holiday.
A fall in stock levels could rejuvenate US demand for European gasoline, which has been unusually low this summer driving season.
A rise in refinery runs will start putting pressure on margins again, one trader said. API's Falconara refinery is restarting this month after being on maintenance since the start of the year.
Despite the emergence of third-quarter Nigerian gasoline allocations, buyers have yet to appear in the market, sources said, but this demand will eventually underpin cracks.
Nigeria tends to blend in more naphtha than other buyers when the gasoline/naphtha spread makes naphtha cheaper than other components.
One market source said this was expected to happen this time, giving the naphtha market a boost.
"Naphtha still looking long in the prompt, however we're expecting a bit more interest for blending sometime in the next week or so," the source said.
Comments
Comments are closed.