Asia’s naphtha margin gains despite rising stocks

NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack gained on Wednesday despite a spike in Middle Eastern inventories, as a rise in crude oil benchmarks boosted prices.

The refining profit margin rose to $138.30 a tonne, the highest since Jan. 14, from $132.65 in the last session.

Light distillates stocks at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, including gasoline and naphtha, climbed by 799,000 barrels to 5.310 million barrels in the week to Jan. 24, according to industry information service S&P Global Platts.

Vietnam’s state oil firm PetroVietnam said on Wednesday that Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical, the operator of the country’s largest oil refinery, was responsible for the recent production cut at the facility.