Asia's gasoline crack dropped nearly 20 percent on Monday to a more than three-month low of $5.39 a barrel, under pressure from plentiful supplies and weaker demand in the region. Petrol sales in India in September, for example, had the smallest rise in four months as record high pump prices dented demand, government data showed.
The earlier-than-expected return of a gasoline-making unit at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) Ruwais oil refinery could also add to supplies. ADNOC had in 2017 turned to imports to plug a supply gap caused by the shutdown of its 127,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) following a fire at a linked petrochemical unit.
It currently has a 2018 import agreement with sellers but the exact volume of the contract was not clear. Asia's naphtha crack recovered slightly to reach a two-session high of $79.05 a tonne but fundamentals remained weak due to abundant supplies which were highlighted by falling spot prices. India's Nayara Energy sold up to 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Nov. 4-8 at premiums of about $5 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
This was down from a high single digit premium it had achieved previously for a cargo sold for Oct. 14-18 loading. Reliance Industries sold a 75,000-tonne naphtha parcel for Nov. 14-17 loading from Sikka at a high single-digit premium a tonne to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis. This was down from the levels Reliance received for a 55,000-tonne cargo scheduled for early November loading from the same port.
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