NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack held steady on Tuesday, hovering above $12 a barrel for a second consecutive session, amid waning demand worries over surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

People being hospitalised with COVID-19 in the United Kingdom are broadly showing less severe symptoms than before, Britain’s vaccine minister said on Tuesday, adding there was no need for further restrictions at this stage.

Naphtha crack, however, slipped for a second straight day, and the prompt inter-month spread narrowed further to $9.

The crack eased to $152.63 a tonne, lowest since Dec. 24, from $157.18 in the last session. On the supply side, naphtha flows into Asia for December closed at 6.3-6.4 million metric tonnes (mt), little changed from November levels, assessments by Refinitiv Oil Research showed.

China more than halved the volume of export quotas for refined fuel, predominantly gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, under the first allotment for 2022, while raising the allowances for low-sulphur fuel oil by 30%, industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday.