Asian naphtha's premium against Brent crude remained little changed from the previous session, pressured by more arbitrage volumes expected in the region. Benchmark open-spec naphtha contracts for second-half August gained to $1,253.00 a tonne, up from $1,249.00 in the previous session.
The crack against Brent for second-half August remained at $155-$156 a tonne, while the half-month backwardation was at $7.00 a tonne. Swiss-based oil trader Gunvor booked a vessel to ship 55,00 naphtha from Russia to Japan, a move usually seen when the West and East arbitrage spread is wide.
The arbitrage spread between East and West was in the $80.00 a tonne range as of Thursday morning. In tender news, Kuwait's KPC offered to sell 25,000 tonnes of naphtha for end-July to early-August loading from its Mina al-Ahmadi port.