Asia’s gasoline crack rises on healthy buying

NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline markets gained on Tuesday, buoyed by strong trading activity at the deals window for a seventh straight session.

The crack for gasoline climbed to $17.42 a barrel over Brent crude, compared with $17.30 a day earlier.

At the Singapore window, energy trader Unipec bought 150,000 barrels of benchmark grade of the fuel, while Aramco snapped up 100,000 barrels of the same grade.

Trade remained subdued for naphtha amid tepid demand, while cheaper alternative feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) became the choice for flexi petrochemical units. The naphtha crack gained $3.40 at $53.90 per tonne over Brent crude and backwardation was steady at $6.50 a tonne on Tuesday.