NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha refining margins jumped to a fresh peak on Wednesday, as prices soared over supply disruption fears from the Russian invasion on Ukraine.

The crack surged to $257.20 per tonne from $212.15 in the last session, and the spread between second-half April and second-half May widened in backwardation to a record $46.75 a tonne, Refinitiv data showed.

“Black Sea naphtha is a heavy grade that Asian petrochemical buyers take, so premiums for heavy naphtha versus the flat price, and open-spec naphtha have risen quite sharply,” Joseph McDonnell, analyst at Energy Aspects said.

We are likely to see more volatility over the coming days and weeks as buyers’ price in the spectre of disrupted supply out of both the Black Sea and the Baltics, he added.

Russian imports account for around 14% of total naphtha supplies to Asia, which is structurally short of the light fuel.

Sri Lanka’s state-owned refiner Ceypetco has sought 300,000 barrels of the benchmark 92-octane grade gasoline for delivery in April.