Asia's gasoline crack hits 3-month high

10 Jun, 2020

SINGAPORE: Asia's gasoline crack extended gains for a second straight session on Monday to hit a fresh three-month high of $1.73 a barrel premium to Brent, as demand picked up after several countries eased lockdown measures.

Asia's naphtha crack, in contrast, edged down 2% to a two-session low of $55.48 a tonne as buyers are yet to start their purchases following a string of vibrant purchases last week, which drove the crack value to a six-week high on Friday.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has offered 50,000 tonnes of naphtha for June 24-25 loading through a tender closing on Tuesday.

KPC has already sold more than 100,000 tonnes of naphtha so far for June-loading, with its most recent 50,000-tonne cargo bought by Singapore's petrochemical firm PCS.

Bahrain has also offered 50,000 tonnes of the fuel for July 15-18 loading from Sitra Port through a tender due to be awarded on Friday.

It has an outstanding tender to sell a June cargo.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for June 17-19 at premiums of about $19 a tonne to its own price formula to BP, industry sources said.

This could not be independently confirmed as IOC and BP do not typically comment on deals nor operations.

Cristobal weakened into a tropical depression as it moved farther inland, while additional weakness is expected through Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. Energy companies had on Friday evacuated 10% of production platforms and shut nearly 30% of offshore oil output, pushing gasoline prices higher, as tropical storm Cristobal entered the US Gulf of Mexico.

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