SINGAPORE: Asia's gasoline margin returned to positive territory on Wednesday after flipping into a discount to Brent for the first time since June on Monday in a volatile market where demand recovery is uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asia's gasoline margin was at a premium of 74 cents a barrel to Brent compared to a small discount of 2 cents in the previous session. Asia's naphtha crack on the other hand fell to a two-session low of $58.13 a tonne.

India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Aug. 17-18 loading from Kochi to Aramco Trading at premiums of about $15 a tonne to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

BPCL had previously cancelled a tender to sell a cargo for Aug. 5-6 loading from Mumbai. Sinopec-SK Wuhan Petrochemical Co, a subsidiary of state oil and gas group Sinopec Corp, plans to idle a 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in late October for about 50 days of maintenance.