NEW DELHI: Asia's gasoline crack gave up some gains on Thursday as US demand slowed but the downside remained limited after stocks at Singapore plunged to a more than 11-month low.
The crack eased to $8.83 a barrel from $9.13 on the previous day. In physical markets, there were two deals for the 95-octane grade, and one for the benchmark grade.
Indicating a drop in demand, US gasoline stocks rose by 3.3 million barrels in the week to 225.1 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a 279,000-barrel drop.
However, Singapore inventories of light distillates dropped 217,000 barrels to more than 11-month low of 11.63 million barrels in the week to Oct. 6, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Meanwhile, the naphtha crack in the region also eased, and the prompt inter-month spread widened in backwardation for a second straight day to $4 a tonne. The crack slipped to $134.73 per tonne from $136.48 in the last session.
"Naphtha fundamentals faced some headwind due to energy crunch in China which might have an effect on petrochemical prices as factories in various sectors in China have been forced to shut or reduce production as part of Chinese government's energy control policy," Refinitiv Oil Research said in a report.
On supply side, Middle Eastern naphtha exports have reached 1.2 million barrels per day in September. The volume is up by about 80,000 barrels per day from August and marks the highest level since September 2018, according to data from consultancy Vortexa.
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