Asia's gasoline crack fell to a one-month low of $6.39 a barrel, pulled down by abundant supplies. Crack value has been trapped in a losing streak since May 23, despite it being a peak season as the Muslim fasting month usually drives up demand. Although gasoline inventories in Singapore were down, they remained at high levels compared with a year ago.
For instance, Singapore onshore light distillates stocks which comprise mostly gasoline and blending components for petrol was down 3.66 percent, or 532,000 barrels, to reach a two-week low of 14 million barrels in the week to June 6, official data showed. However, the current inventory levels were 11 percent higher than a year ago.
US gasoline stocks on the other hand rose by 4.6 million barrels last week, Energy Information Administration data showed. This rise in stocks was sharply higher versus analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for nearly 600,000 barrels gain. Light distillates stocks held in the Fujairah was at a two-month high of 7.48 million barrels in the week to June 4 based on data published by Fujairah Oil Industry Zone via industry information service S&P Global Platts.
Asia's naphtha crack fell for the third straight session to hover around a 1-1/2 month low of $82.05 a tonne. Demand for cargoes through tenders appeared muted. India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) were among the first to offer cargoes for July loading.
MRPL offered 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for July 10-12 loading from New Mangalore through a tender closing on June 12. IOC had also offered 35,000 tonnes but for July 1-3 loading from Chennai through a tender which expires on late Thursday. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) on the other hand had sold 30,000 tonnes of naphtha to Socar two days ago for June 27-29 loading from Mumbai at premiums of about $22 a tonne to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
This was down from the $25 a tonne BPCL had previously received from BP for a June 15-17 cargo. Bahrain has also sold a cargo this week at premiums in the low $20s a tonne range to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis. Malaysia's government has allocated 3 billion ringgit ($760 million) to subsidise pump prices till the end of 2018.
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