NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack rose again on Monday after a pause on Friday, as prices surged in tandem with a rise in crude oil benchmarks amid Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The refining profit margin rose to $230.98 a tonne, up $4.63 from Friday’s close, and the inter-month time spread between second-half April and second-half May narrowed in backwardation to $36.75 a tonne from record $46.75 in the last session.

Naphtha margins touched a record high last week over fears of supply disruption from Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for new international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, proposing a boycott of Russian oil and other Russian exports and a halt of exports to Russia.

Meanwhile, the gasoline crack in the region rose to $12.37 per barrel from $10.72 in the last session.

The head of Japan’s largest business lobby said on Monday the country’s imports of Russian crude could not be replaced immediately, as global discussions gathered pace about the possibility of cutting Moscow’s oil from markets.