Asia's naphtha extends losses, gasoline slips

Asia's naphtha crack slipped further away from recent highs on Tuesday but remained supported by tight arbitrage supplies and demand for gasoline blending, trade sources said.

The naphtha crack fell $1.03 a barrel from the previous session to $110.50 a tonne on Tuesday. The naphtha margin hit a near two-year high of $123.73 a tonne on Friday.

Asia's gasoline crack also eased to $8.19 a barrel on Tuesday, down 58 cents from the previous session.

Rising crude prices helped pressure the naphtha and gasoline margins.

Oil prices edged higher on rising expectations of deeper output cuts when OPEC and its allies meet this week, although scepticism about a deal among some analysts limited the gains.

Qatar Petroleum announces 5-year naphtha sale agreement with Shell to supply 900,000 tonnes of full-range naphtha and plant condensate per year starting April 2020.

Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea's smallest refiner by capacity, plans to increase its run rates by about 2% from January to produce more very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia raised on Monday its light crude prices for sales to Asia in January to the highest in six years, tracking gains in the Middle East crude benchmark and higher margins for light distillates last month.