NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack climbed on Wednesday, snapping its four-day losing run after uncertainty over Russian supplies pushed front-month prices of the light fuel to more than $1,000 per tonne.

The refining profit margin rose to $131.63 a tonne, up $9.65 from Tuesday. The inter-month time spread narrowed in backwardation to $13 per tonne.

Meanwhile, the gasoline crack strengthened to more than $18 a barrel on the back of strong demand from key consumers such as India.

US gasoline inventories fell by 626,000 barrels, according to market sources who cited American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

Light distillate stocks at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone rose 237,000 barrel to 6.282 million barrels in the week ended March 21, according to industry information service S&P Global Platts.

India’s state-run refiner MRPL offered 35,000 tonnes of 95-octane gasoline for delivery in the last week of April, tender document showed.

India’s crude oil imports last month dropped to their lowest since October, government data showed on Wednesday, as soaring global prices made it costlier to procure the fossil fuel.