- Fundamentals were holding firm, reflected in some of the premiums buyers were willing to fork out for cargoes.

- India's Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), for instance, sold a 35,000-tonne cargo late last week for June 27-29 loading from New Mangalore to Gunvor at premiums in the low $30s a tonne level to Middle East quotes free on board (FOB), traders said.

- The premium is now only slightly below the $34 a tonne premium MRPL received 1-1/2 weeks' ago, its highest in nearly four years.

- End users, meanwhile, have started buying cargoes for the second half of July, with SK Energy last week paying a $16 to $17 a tonne premium.

- LG Chem on Friday paid close to a $10 a tonne premium but with the prices pegged to a 45-day period instead of the usual 30 days.

GASOLINE: Asia's gasoline fell to its lowest in about three weeks at $7.46 a barrel as seasonal demand failed to offset high oil prices and supplies.

- In China, for example, gasoline inventories rose 5 percent in April, Xinhua reported.

- According to Reuters calculations that moved the level to 9.07 million tonnes, a record high since Xinhua started publishing the data in 2010.

REFINERY NEWS: Motiva Enterprises has decided not to add processing capacity at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, making this a significant change in the refiner's plans from two months ago.