SINGAPORE: Asia’s naphtha and gasoline cracks slipped on Tuesday, weighed down by rising supplies and weakening demand in parts of the region due to mobility restrictions following resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

India’s top state oil refiners are reducing processing runs and crude imports as the surging COVID-19 pandemic has cut fuel consumption, leading to higher product stockpiles at the plants, company officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

M. K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp, expects India’s fuel consumption in May to fall by 5% from April although the impact on driving and industrial production is not as severe as last year.

Key Japan cities remained under a state of emergency while some southeast Asian countries are grappling with rising cases. The Asian market did not react much to the tightening of gasoline supplies and prices in the United States following the shutdown of the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline by hackers as Europe would be first to meet US demand when it arises, traders said.