NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin fell on Wednesday despite a decline in Middle Eastern inventories, as crude oil prices rose on tight supply.

The crack slipped to $153.50 a tonne, down $2.5 from the previous close. Naphtha margins registered a loss of more than 6% last week on demand concerns.

Stocks of light distillates at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, including gasoline and naphtha, dropped by 887,000 barrels on the week to 4.341 million barrels, according to industry information service S&P Global Platts.

The gasoline crack in the region eased but traded above $10 a barrel amid a surge in global cases of Omicron COVID-19, which stoked demand fears.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may implement deep price cuts for the crude it sells to Asia in February after Middle East benchmarks and spot prices slumped this month, industry sources said.

Oil prices edged towards $80 per barrel on Wednesday as global supply outages and declining US inventories offset worries that rising coronavirus cases might reduce demand.