Asia naphtha crack surges

NEW DELH: Asia’s naphtha crack strengthened on Thursday, hitting its highest level since Nov. 15, after shedding nearly 12% in January over demand woes.

The crack surged to $162.45 per tonne, up by $17.27 from the last close. The inter-month spread between second-half March and April widened in backwardation structure to $17.50.

Oil products inflow into Asia from Europe has more than halved month-on-month and eased below 500,000 barrels per day in January, driven by a sharp decline in naphtha and fuel oil supplies, consultancy JBC Energy said in a note.

Meanwhile, Indian state refiner BPCL is exploring the possibility of setting up an ethylene cracker at its Bina refinery, a company executive said on Wednesday.