NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack slipped below $7 a barrel on Friday, hitting a two-month low as Northwest European inventories registered a weekly rise.

The crack dropped to $6.56 per barrel from $7.43 in the previous session, its lowest since late June.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area rose 1.6% to 688,000 tonnes, as exports to West Africa and the United States slowed, Dutch consultancy Insights Global said.

Asia’s naphtha crack also inched lower as ARA stocks rose slightly.

The crack was at $118.80 a tonne, down from $119.18 in the last session. However, the margin rose 4.9% on week.

Naphtha stocks at ARA refining and storage area increased to 380,000 tonnes in the week to Aug. 26 from 336,000 last week.

The Fujairah Oil Terminal is investing an estimated $45 million to upgrade the infrastructure at its storage facilities, betting on a surge in crude trading and storage demand at the United Arab Emirates oil hub, the company’s chairman told Reuters.

Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to post big gains for the week, on worries about supply disruptions as energy companies began shutting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a possible hurricane forecast to hit on the weekend.