NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack pared some losses on Thursday as data showed rise in India’s monthly consumption, and US inventories likely shrank last week.

The crack was at $6.92 a barrel, up from $6.54 in the last session. However, the upside remained capped as Singapore stocks rose, and the US Energy Information Administration cut its 2021 world oil demand growth forecast by 370,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.96 million bpd.

India’s August consumption of gasoline increased by about 13% year-on-year to 2.69 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.

In the United States, analysts estimated that stockpiles of gasoline dropped by 3.4 million barrels last week.

Meanwhile, stocks of light distillates in Singapore rose 69,000 barrels to a three-week high of 13.25 million barrels in the week to Sept. 8, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

In physical markets, demand for 95-octane grade stayed firm. Vitol bought a cargo for the seventh consecutive day.

The naphtha crack also rose after two straight sessions of losses, while the prompt inter-month spread narrowed further in backwardation.

The crack was at $130.78 a tonne, up from $128.90 in the previous session. The inter-month spread between second-half October and November narrowed to $5 per tonne.