NEW DELHI: Asia’s refining profit margins for 10 ppm gasoil and cash premiums extended losses on Wednesday, amid concerns of slowing consumption in South Asia.

Cash differentials for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at a premium of $2.62 a barrel to Singapore quotes, down from $2.67 per barrel on Tuesday.

Refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil dropped to $38.23 a barrel over Dubai crude in Asian trading hours, compared with $41.16 in the last session.

The Bangladesh government has temporarily shut down all diesel-fired power plants in the face of fuel shortages and has ordered for up to one-hour long countrywide load shedding.

Demand from Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been low amid economic and political crisis, while India has cut a windfall tax on diesel and aviation fuel shipments by 2 rupees a liter.

US distillate stocks fell by about 2.2 million barrels, market sources said, against expectations of an increase by about 1.2 million barrels in a Reuters poll.

Middle distillate inventories at the key trading hub of Fujairah declined by 941,000 barrels to a six-week low of 2.734 million barrels in the week to July 18, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday, under pressure from global central bank efforts to limit inflation and ahead of expected builds in US crude inventories as fuel demand weakens.