SINGAPORE: Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil slipped on Friday, posting their second consecutive weekly decline, partly weighed down by weaker demand in China due to COVID-19 lockdowns, while cash premiums for the fuel grade dropped on weaker buying interest for physical cargoes. Refining margins, also known as cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil fell to $36.29 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $40.05 per barrel a day earlier.

Cracks for the benchmark gasoil grade in Singapore shed 13.8% this week, drifting away from an all-time high of $48.96 per barrel touched two weeks ago, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

“The key market driver remains the European Union’s proposal to completely ban Russian crude and oil products by the end of the year, which will lead to greater demand for alternative supply from the Middle East, India, and East Asia,” Zameer Yusof, a senior analyst at Refinitiv Oil Research, said in a note.