NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin declined by about 98% this week amid poor demand fundamentals and little activity in the spot markets.

The crack dropped to minus $28.43 per metric tonne over Brent crude, compared with minus $22.48 a day earlier and the market structure narrowed in contango to $2.50 per metric tonne.

The gasoline crack, on the other hand, rose to $15.26 a barrel from $14.22 a barrel on Thursday. The crack gained 37% on week amid robust import demand from India.

Meanwhile, inventories at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage fell by over 5% to 1.27 million metric tonnes in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Naphtha stocks were down slightly at 312,000 metric tonnes in the week to June 15, compared with 336,000 in the prior week, the data showed. Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said on Friday it was “realistic” to reach oil prices of around $80 per barrel, Russian state news agencies reported.

Oil slipped on Friday but remained on track for its first weekly gain in three, supported by hopes that OPEC+ supply cuts and higher demand from top crude importer China will tighten the market in the second half of the year.