Asia gasoline crack margins inch higher despite rising crude prices

SINGAPORE, Asia’s gasoline crack edged up on Wednesday to hit a more than one-week high, extending gains even as crude oil prices climbed.

The gasoline crack rose to $7.87 a barrel, up by 10 cents from the previous session.

But its outlook was clouded by fears of renewed travel restrictions and rising near-term gasoline output.

In a bearish sign, data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed US gasoline inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 26, according to market sources.

The gains also despite oil prices rising more than 4% on Wednesday, after a drop of more than 16% in November, as major producers prepared to discuss how much of a threat the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus would pose to energy demand.

Gasoline margins reiterated last month, giving up the sharp gains recorded in a October rally that sent them to a more than six-year high of $18.72 a barrel on Oct. 27 on the back of tightening supplies and signs of recovering demand.

Asia’s naphtha crack dropped to $146.78 a tonne, down from Tuesday’s two-week high of $157.70 per tonne.