NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack rose on Friday as European inventories declined for a second straight week, and crude oil benchmarks eased on profit-booking.

The refining profit margin rose to $133.93 a tonne, up $2.07 from the last session.

Naphtha stocks held at Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) storage area dropped to 190,000 tonnes in the week to Jan. 20 from 223,000 in the prior week, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

The gasoline crack inched higher to $10.17 per barrel from $10.03 on Thursday as ARA inventories declined slightly to 1.155 million tonnes. However, the gains were capped due to a larger-than-expected spike in the US gasoline stocks.

Refiners globally are reaping the highest profits from gasoil production in years on stronger than expected demand and tight supplies.