NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack surged on Tuesday hitting a one-month high over recovering consumption hopes, after OPEC raised its world oil demand forecast for the first quarter of 2022.

The crack climbed to $164.63 per tonne from $159.63 in the last session. Naphtha margins have gained over 17% since Dec. 6 due to renewed demand hopes on recovering prices of alternative cracker feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Further on demand side, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said global consumption of fuels used in road transportation and petrochemical feedstock will continue to rise steeply.

Meanwhile, the gasoline crack in the region inched lower but traded strong over $12 on expectations on recovering oil demand. In physical markets, Shell purchased a cargo of 97-octane grade of January-loading gasoline.

A surge in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant will dent global demand for oil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday, but the broader picture is one of increasing output set to top demand this month and soar next year.