NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack eased on Wednesday, but a decline in US and Middle East inventories limited losses.

Refining profit margin, or crack, slipped to $14.58 per barrel, down $1.35 from the last close. Gasoline margins have strengthened nearly 31% this year due to easing of mobility-related restrictions.

“We expect countries such as India to see a recovery in domestic gasoline consumption from easing COVID-19 restrictions,” FGE analyst Dylan Sim said.

Indian gasoline sales during Feb. 1-15 were at 1.04 million tonnes, up 7.3% from the same period in January and 0.1% higher from a year ago, data showed. Indian state refiner BPCL offered prompt gasoline cargo for late-February delivery.

US gasoline inventories fell by 923,000 barrels while distillate stocks fell by 546,000 barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures.