NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack ended the week with over 51% gains on hopes of incremental supplies from India, while easing omicron concerns boosted demand sentiment.
The refining profit margin surged to $12.55 a barrel on Friday, strongest since Nov. 9, from $11.59 in the last session.
The upside remained capped as U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels last week, compared with expectations for a 1.8
million-barrel rise.
India’s fuel consumption declined in November after scaling a seven-month peak last month, government data showed, as demand eased in the world’s third biggest oil consumer after the festival season. This could push the country to ship out excess gasoline.
Meanwhile, the naphtha crack in the region also rose as recovering prices of alternative cracker feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), renewed hopes of firm demand from petrochemical units. The crack climbed to $157.38 per tonne, up $1.08 from last close. Naphtha margins have gained over 11% this week.
Saudi Aramco has notified at least two North Asian buyers that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude oil in January, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Oil prices were on track for their biggest weekly gain since late August, with market sentiment buoyed by easing concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant’s impact on global economic growth and fuel demand.
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