SINGAPORE: Asia’s gasoline crack extended losses on Thursday after data showed an increase in gasoline stockpiles in Singapore and the United States, sparking concerns about demand weakening.

The crack fell to $6.54 a barrel on Thursday, the lowest since March 29, from $7.07 a barrel in the previous session.

Singapore’s light distillate inventories, which comprise mostly gasoline and blending components for petrol, rose 344,000 barrels to a two-week high of 14.594 million barrels in the week to April 7, according to Enterprise Singapore data.

US gasoline stocks rose by 4 million barrels in the week to April 2 to 230.5 million barrels, compared with forecasts for a 221,000-barrel drop, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Asia’s naphtha crack weakened to $96.30 a tonne on Thursday, from $100.28 a tonne in the previous session.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), resumed gasoline production at the Puerto La Cruz refinery, with a capacity of 187,000 barrels per day (bpd), five people familiar with the operation said this week. A fire on Wednesday at an oil refinery operated by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the eastern city of Minatitlan injured seven people before it was brought under control, the state-run oil company said.