Asia's gasoline crack flipped back to a discount against Brent crude on Monday as few signs of an easing supply glut over the near term and higher crude oil prices on Friday weighed on sentiment. The Singapore 92 RON gasoline crack against Brent crude slipped to a two-session low of minus $0.87 a barrel, down from a premium of $0.05 a barrel on Friday.
Oil fell on Monday, in line with further declines in global stock markets, erasing the gains made last week when producer group OPEC and other key exporters agreed to cut their crude output from January. Crude prices surged after OPEC and some non-OPEC producers including heavyweight Russia on Friday said they would cut oil supply by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
By contrast, Asia's naphtha crack climbed for a third straight session on Monday, rising to a four-session high of $39.95 a tonne. However, concerns of excess supplies and lacklustre demand are also weighing on the naphtha market, keeping a lid on upside potential, trade sources said.
China's CNOOC has offered up to 38,000 tonnes of 92 RON gasoline loading from Guangdong over Jan. 9-10 in a tender closing on Dec. 11 with same-day validity. This came as CNOOC sold a similar cargo of 92 RON gasoline for Dec. 25-26 loading from Guangdong to an unknown buyer at a discount of about $0.60 per tonne to Singapore quotes on an FOB basis.
India's HPCL offered 10,000 tonnes of 91 RON gasoline and 20,000 tonnes of naphtha with a minimum 60 percent paraffin content loading from Vizag over Dec. 15-17 in a tender closing on Dec. 11 with same-day validity.