SINGAPORE: Asia’s gasoline crack rose on Friday and posted a weekly gain of over 13%, buoyed by growing demand as the summer driving season kicked off in the United States.

The refining profit margin for gasoline increased to $32.07 a barrel, up from $30.61 in the last session. Margins were also supported by a drop in crude oil benchmarks.

Meanwhile, Asia’s naphtha crack rose to minus $24.40 per tonne from minus $35.35 in the previous session.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area rose slightly to 1.25 million tonnes in the week ended Thursday, about 2.5% higher than the previous week, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Naphtha stocks fell to 213,000 tonnes from 316,000 tonnes the week before.

Indian state refiner MRPL issued a tender for the sale of 35,000 tonnes of 95-octane grade of gasoline for delivery during 26-28 June. The tender closes on June 6.

Oil slipped on Friday after OPEC+ decided to increase production targets by slightly more than planned, although tight global supply and rising demand as China eases COVID-19 restrictions limited the decline.