NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha and gasoline cracks both declined more than 8% this week on higher oil prices, despite gains on Friday fueled by potential release of crude reserves by top economies.

The naphtha crack rose to $154.65 a tonne from $152.53 in the previous session, while the gasoline margin inched higher to $9.83 a barrel from $9.72.

On consumption side, Japanese gasoline demand was recorded at around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the last month, nearly 90,000 bpd below the five-year average, according to data from consultancy JBC Energy.

Meanwhile, gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area rose by 2.8% in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed. The naphtha inventories rose to 263,000 tonnes, from 193,000 tonnes in the prior week.

Governments from some of the world’s biggest economies said they were looking into releasing oil from their strategic reserves, following a rare request from the United States for a coordinated move to cool global energy prices and ahead of a meeting of major oil producing countries.

China’s Shandong province has ordered its refineries, including three plants under state-run Sinochem Holdings, to self-inspect and self-rectify any irregular fuel tax practices, a document reviewed by Reuters on Thursday showed. No naphtha trades, no gasoline deals.